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(Relevance: The topic of consumer rights holds importance from the perspective of rights and ethics for UPSC CSE. Additionally, previously UPSC has asked questions on consumer rights. Thus, having insight about the regulation of misleading ads in India becomes important.)
Recently, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on Vision IAS for deceptive advertising about its students’ success in the civil services examination.
1. The CCPA found that a popular IAS coaching institute deliberately withheld specific course information, creating a misleading impression about its success rates in such exams, a statement by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said.
2. The institute’s advertisement claimed “10 in Top 10 selections in CSE 2020 from various programs of Vision IAS” and prominently displayed successful candidates and pictures. It highlighted only the first rank student’s foundation course while concealing course details of nine other successful UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) 2020 candidates.
3. The CCPA emphasized that complete course information is crucial for consumers to make informed decisions about coaching institutes. The commission imposed a penalty to protect “young and impressionable aspirants” from potentially deceptive marketing practices, the statement said.
4. Notably, the CCPA has so far issued 46 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practice. It has imposed a penalty of Rs 74.60 lakh on 23 coaching institutes and directed them to discontinue the misleading advertisements.
1. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is India’s apex consumer watchdog. It was established under Section 10(1) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and became operational on 24th July 2020.
2. It is tasked with regulating matters related to the violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and false or misleading advertisements that are prejudicial to the interests of consumers as a class and the public at large.
2. Powers and Functions of CCPA are:
(i) Protect, promote and enforce the rights of consumers as a class, and prevent violation of consumers rights under this Act;
(ii) Prevent unfair trade practices and ensure that no person engages himself in unfair trade practices;
(iii) Ensure that no false or misleading advertisement is made of any goods or services which contravenes the provisions of this Act or the rules or regulations made there under;
(iv) Ensure that no person takes part in the publication of any false or misleading advertisement.
(v) File complaints before the Consumer Commission and review the matters relating to consumer rights.
(vi) Recommend adoption of international covenants on consumer rights.
(vii) Promote awareness on consumer rights and research in the field of consumer rights.
(viii) Advise the ministries and departments of the central and state governments on consumer welfare measures.
1. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 replaced the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Act recognises offences such as providing false information regarding the quality or quantity of a good or service, and misleading advertisements. It also specifies action to be taken if goods and services are found “dangerous, hazardous or unsafe”.
| National Consumer Rights Day |
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National Consumer Rights Day was established in India to commemorate the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act of 1986, which was approved by the then-President of India on December 24, 1986. Since then, 24th December has been celebrated as National Consumer Day. Consumer Rights Day is dedicated to raising awareness about consumer rights and promoting fair trade practices. The theme for National Consumer Day in 2024 was “Virtual Hearings & Digital Access to Consumer Justice.” |
2. The Section 2(28) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 defines “misleading advertisement” in relation to any product or service which— (i) falsely describes such product or service; or (ii) gives a false guarantee to, or is likely to mislead the consumers as to the nature, substance, quantity or quality of such product or service; or (iii) conveys an implied representation which, if made by the manufacturer or seller or service provider thereof, would constitute an unfair trade practice; or (iv) deliberately conceals important information.
3. Section 21 of the Act defines the powers given to the CCPA to crack down on false or misleading advertisements. According to these provisions, if the CCPA is satisfied after investigation that any advertisement is false or misleading and is harmful to the interest of any consumer, or is in contravention of consumer rights, the CCPA may issue directions to the trader, manufacturer, endorser, advertiser, or publisher to discontinue such an advertisement, or modify it in a manner specified by the authority, within a given time.
4. The authority may also impose a penalty up to Rs 10 lakh, with imprisonment up to two years, on the manufacturer or endorser of false and misleading advertisements. The penalty may go up to Rs 50 lakh, with imprisonment up to five years, for every subsequent offence committed by the same manufacturer or endorser.
| Six Essential Consumer Rights |
According to the Consumer Protection Act, every consumer in India is entitled to six essential rights:
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5. CCPA may ban the endorser of a false or misleading advertisement from making endorsement of any products or services in the future, for a period that may extend to one year. The ban may extend up to three years in every subsequent violation of the Act.
1. The Centre in November last year released new guidelines to regulate misleading advertisements by coaching institutes, prohibiting false claims like 100 per cent selection or 100 per cent job security. The guidelines were drafted by the Central Consumer Protection Authority in the wake of several complaints on the National Consumer Helpline.
2. Under the new guidelines, coaching centres are prohibited from making false claims regarding courses offered and duration; faculty credentials; fee structure and refund policies; selection rates and exam rankings; and guaranteed job security or salary increases.
3. The guidelines define ‘coaching’ to include academic support, education, guidance, study programmes and tuition, but exclude counselling, sports and creative activities.
4. Coaching centres cannot use names, photographs or testimonials of successful candidates without written consent obtained after selection. They must display disclaimers prominently and disclose important information about courses.
(Sources: Vision IAS fined 3 lakh for misleading civil services exam advertisements, No false claims: Govt issues guidelines restricting misleading ads by coaching centres,doca.gov.in/ccpa, National Consumer Rights Day 2024)
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