In a significant move to protect the rights of consumers and maintain transparency in the coaching sector, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued comprehensive guidelines to address the issue of misleading advertisements in the coaching sector.
‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector, 2024,’ aim to safeguard students and the public from deceptive marketing practices commonly employed by coaching centers, Mrs Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner, CCPA, and Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs said on Wednesday while interacting with the media.
A committee, chaired by the then Chief Commissioner CCPA was constituted on the guidelines. It included the representative of several organisations namely Central Consumer Protection Authority, Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Education, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (as a special invitee), National Law University (NLU) Delhi, Law firm and Industry stakeholders.
There was general consensus among committee members that CCPA should come with the guidelines. After adequate deliberations, the committee submitted its suggestions.
Based on the suggestion of the committee, the CCPA placed the draft guidelines for public comments on 16 February. Public suggestions were received from 28 stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education.
Some of the important definition in the guidelines include:
–“Coaching” includes academic support, imparting education, guidance, instructions, study programme or tuition or any other activity of similar nature but does not include counselling, sports, dance, theatre and other creative activities;
–“Coaching Center” includes a center, established, run, or administered by any person(s) for providing coaching to more than fifty students; and
–“Endorser” shall have the same meaning as provided under clause 2(f) of the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022;
These guidelines are drafted in the wake of growing concerns about false/misleading claims, exaggerated success rates, and unfair contracts that coaching institutes often impose on students. Such practices have been found to mislead students, influencing their decisions by concealing important information, giving false guarantees etc.
The guidelines will apply to every person engaged in coaching, meaning not just the coaching centers, but also any endorsers or public figures promoting their services through advertisements. Endorsers, who lend their name or reputation to coaching centers, will now be responsible for ensuring that the claims they endorse are accurate and truthful.
Endorsers who endorse coaching institutes must verify the claims they are promoting. If they support false success rates or misleading guarantees, they will be held accountable alongside the coaching centres.