The learning curve

Testimonial ads by coaching schools should be curbed

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has asked the government’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to enforce conduct rules and disallow candidates who pass the civil-services examination to earn through testimonial advertisements after their selection. This will tamp down on a long-standing unethical practice of high rankers entering revenue-share deals with coaching institutes to use their rank and photograph by way of endorsement. The move is part of a two-month investigation, which also saw the CCPA send notices to 20 coaching institutes and slap penalties of Rs 1 lakh on four of them. But this penalty amounts to little