The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has slapped a ₹15 lakh fine on Vajirao & Reddy Institute, a well-known Delhi-based UPSC coaching centre, over misleading advertisements about its results in the Civil Services Examination (CSE)-2023.

The authority’s final order, issued on 20 February, concludes that the institute’s claims gave an inflated picture of its role in student success and hid key details that matter to aspirants.

Vajirao & Reddy had displayed on their official website that it produced “over 645 selections out of 1,016 vacancies”, including “6 in Top 10 AIR”, “35 in Top 50 AIR”, and “64 in Top 100 AIR” following the UPSC 2023 results.

These figures were shown beside promotions for its full-length classroom programmes, creating the impression that those successful candidates had taken comprehensive coaching from the institute.

However, the CCPA’s probe uncovered significant discrepancies. When investigators examined enrolment records submitted by the institute, they found that many of the so-called successful candidates either had only signed up for short interview-only coaching or were not enrolled in any regular course at all.

In hundreds of cases, the enrolment forms lacked crucial details like course names or dates, and the institute failed to produce supporting fee receipts or other validating documents when asked.

According to the regulator, this omission is not trivial. For aspiring civil services candidates, knowing which specific courses successful peers have taken, and at what stage of preparation, is essential to making an informed choice.

Not disclosing that context, the CCPA said, creates a misleading impression of the institute’s contribution to overall success.

Repeat offence triggers steeper penalty

What made the case more serious was that this wasn’t the institute’s first brush with the consumer watchdog. In a similar action over its UPSC CSE-2022 result advertisements, the authority earlier imposed a ₹7 lakh penalty. Given that the institute repeated the same kind of misleading presentation this year despite regulatory attention, the current order treated it as a subsequent contravention, warranting a heavier fine under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

In its order, the CCPA has also directed the institute to pull down misleading materials and file a compliance report within 15 days. The authority underscored the scale of potential impact, noting that roughly 11 lakh candidates apply for the civil services exam annually, and many families invest years of effort and substantial money based on coaching claims that may not reflect reality.

So far, the CCPA has issued 57 notices to coaching institutes nationwide over misleading ads, imposing penalties totaling more than ₹1.24 crore on 29 centres.