In re Made Easy Learnings Pvt. Ltd. (CCPA Delhi)
Summary: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), in a suo-moto proceeding against Next IAS (Made Easy Learnings Pvt. Ltd.), examined advertisements claiming “4 in Top 10”, “9 in Top 20”, “45 in Top 100”, “Total 290 selections out of 685” and “42% of Total Selection” in UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2021. The principal issue was whether prominently claiming successful candidates without clearly disclosing the specific courses taken by them amounted to a misleading advertisement and unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Investigation showed that out of the 290 candidates claimed, 207 had enrolled in the Interview Guidance Programme, 42 in Essay Course, 19 in GS Mains Course, 14 in Optional Course, 5 in Prelims Test Series, 2 in GS Pre+Mains Foundation Course and 1 in CSAT Course. The Authority observed that the majority of successful candidates had taken the Interview Guidance Programme, which becomes relevant only after a candidate has already cleared the Preliminary and Main examinations. It rejected the contention that course-wise information accessible through hyperlinks or additional navigation sufficiently disclosed this material information.
The CCPA held that broad success claims, viewed by a reasonable and prudent consumer, created an impression that the institute itself had produced 290 selections constituting 42% of the total selections. It held that deliberately concealing material information concerning the specific course opted by successful candidates fell within clauses (iii) and (iv) of Section 2(28) of the Act. The CCPA also rejected the argument that absence of sector-specific guidelines at the relevant time precluded action, observing that the statutory definition of misleading advertisement itself imposed an obligation to disclose important information.
