Govt draft guidelines to bar misleading ads by coaching institutes

Institutes cannot claim 100% placement for students, say guidelines

Coaching institutes' advertisements cannot claim all their students are selected for jobs or colleges, said the Consumer Affairs Ministry on Tuesday as a measure against misleading information.

Rohit Kumar Singh, consumer affairs secretary and chief commissioner of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), met coaching industry executives to discuss draft guidelines, said the ministry in a statement. The guidelines will be applicable to all coaching institutes and will cover all forms of advertisement regardless of format or medium.

The guidelines prescribe conditions when an advertisement by a coaching institute will be considered misleading as defined under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, “which inter-alia include concealing important information related to the course opted by the successful candidates [courses opted by successful candidates (whether free or paid), duration of course etc.”

“The guidelines also state that coaching institutes will not make false claims regarding success rates or number of selections and any other practices that may lead to consumer misunderstanding or subvert consumer autonomy and choice,” said the statement.

The committee said that there is an urgent need to issue the draft guidelines as discussed in the meeting.

Acting on its own, the CCPA in 2023 took action against misleading advertisements by issuing notices to 31 coaching institutes and penalising nine. It said some coaching institutes mislead consumers by deliberately concealing important information about the course opted by successful candidates, duration of the course and the fees paid.

Representatives from the Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Education, National Law University, Delhi, FIITJEE, Khan Global Studies and Ikigai Law, and Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration were also part of the meeting on Tuesday.

Dos and don'ts for coaching institutes:

Must mention:

• Rank secured by successful candidate
• Course opted by successful candidate
• Duration of course
• Whether a course is paid or free

Not claim 100% selection or 100% job guaranteed or guaranteed preliminary or mains

The font of disclaimer/disclosure/Important information in the advertisement shall be the same as that used in the claim/advertisement, with prominent placement