Central Authority Slaps Rs 11 Lakh Penalty On Vision IAS For Misleading UPSC Result Ads
New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 11 lakh on Vision IAS for allegedly publishing misleading advertisements on results of the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022 and 2023, marking the first case of a penalty for repeat offense under consumer protection laws.
The misleading ad reportedly concealed important details about the actual courses taken by featured candidates. The ad mainly claimed “7 in Top 10 & 79 in Top 100 selections in CSE 2023” and “39 in Top 50 selections in CSE 2022,” featuring photographs, names and ranks of successful candidates.
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Notably, the authorities discovered that the institute, officially registered as AjayVision Education Pvt Ltd, deliberately concealed information about which courses successful candidates had actually enrolled in. Hence, the institute created a false impression that all toppers had taken its expensive foundation courses.
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CCPA Chief Commissioner and Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said that the institute continued to make similar claims in its subsequent advertisements, demonstrating a lack of due diligence and regulatory compliance despite regulatory intervention and caution.
The investigation however revealed that of the 119-plus successful candidates Vision IAS claimed for UPSC CSE 2022 and 2023, only three had enrolled in foundation courses, while the remaining 116 had merely opted for services such as test series for preliminary and mains examinations, one-time Abhyaas tests, and mock interview programmes.
While institute disclosed that Shubham Kumar (AIR 1, UPSC CSE 2020) had enrolled in the GS Foundation Batch (Classroom Student), the ad deliberately concealed similar information about other successful candidates displayed alongside him, misleading aspiring students by creating false impression that all featured candidates were enrolled in the same premium course.
