In a significant effort to protect consumer rights and ensure transparency, India’s Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has implemented comprehensive guidelines to eliminate misleading advertising practices in the coaching sector. The newly established “Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector, 2024,” seek to protect students from misleading claims frequently utilized by coaching institutes. Chief Commissioner of CCPA and Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare, highlighted the guidelines' importance in upholding integrity in an industry that plays a critical role in shaping students' futures.
The creation of these guidelines followed deliberations by a committee including representatives from the Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Education, National Law University Delhi, and various industry stakeholders. The consensus was clear: CCPA needed to step in to curb misleading marketing practices prevalent among coaching centers. The draft guidelines, opened for public comment in February 2024, received input from prominent educational organizations such as ALLEN Career Institute, Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), and the Consumer Education & Research Centre (CERC), among others.
The guidelines introduce precise definitions for “coaching,” “coaching center,” and “endorser” to ensure clarity. Coaching centers are now prohibited from making false claims about courses, fees, faculty qualifications, and refund policies. They must refrain from advertising exaggerated success rates, guaranteed exam scores, or assured admissions, all of which have previously been used to lure students and their families. In particular, the guidelines address misleading claims related to job security and selection success, practices that have placed undue pressure on students.
Coaching centers must accurately reflect their infrastructure, faculty, and resources. They are also barred from using students’ names or success stories in advertisements without post-selection written consent from the students themselves. This change aims to relieve students from the burden of early consent, which has often led to exploitation. Furthermore, disclaimers on advertisements must now be clearly displayed in a font size equal to other key information, preventing institutions from concealing critical details in fine print.
The guidelines also address urgency tactics used to pressure students into quick decisions, such as advertising limited seats or exclusive discounts. To increase accountability, coaching centers are now required to integrate with the National Consumer Helpline, giving students an accessible means to report grievances related to misleading advertisements and unfair contracts. Violations of these guideline s will be treated as breaches of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, enabling CCPA to impose penalties and take legal action.
The CCPA has already issued 45 notices to various coaching centers and imposed penalties totaling Rs 54.6 lakh on 18 institutes, requiring them to discontinue misleading advertisements. Through the National Consumer Helpline, the Department of Consumer Affairs has further resolved over 26,000 student grievances from 2021 to 2024, leading to Rs 1.15 crore in refunds to affected students.
The guidelines aim to introduce transparency in the coaching industry, enabling students and families to make informed decisions based on trustworthy information, thereby fostering trust and fairness in education.
