Govt issues guidelines to crack down on misleading ads by coaching centres

The rules prohibit false claims by these institutes, such as 100% selection or 100% job security

by e4m Staff
Published: Nov 13, 2024 6:48 PM | 2 min read

The government on Wednesday released new guidelines to regulate misleading advertisements by coaching institutes. The rules prohibit false claims by these institutes, such as 100% selection or 100% job security. Also, they are not allowed to use successful candidates’ names, photos, or testimonials in ads without written consent from these individuals.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) formulated the guidelines following several complaints from the National Consumer Helpline. According to Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare, the government’s goal is not to shut down coaching centres but to ensure their ads don’t “undermine consumer rights.”

“We have seen coaching centres deliberately concealing information from prospective students. Therefore, we have come out with the guidelines to provide guidance to people involved in the coaching industry,” a media report quoted her as saying.

So far, the CCPA has issued 54 notices to violators and imposed penalties of around Rs 54.60 lakh.

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.

The guidelines define ‘coaching’ to include academic support, education, guidance, study programmes and tuition, but exclude counselling, sports and creative activities.

The guidelines, titled ‘Prevention of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector’, cover all forms of advertising across academic support, education, guidance and tuition services. However, they exclude counselling, sports and creative activities.