The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), an arm of the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry, has released draft guidelines for the “Prevention of misleading advertisement in coaching sector”, which bring such offences under the radar of the Consumer Protection Act. The CCPA has invited public comments on the three-page guidelines. The CCPA had formed a sub-committee to draft the guidelines earlier after discussions with several stakeholders. The last date for submitting suggestions is March 16.
The Ministry said in a release that the draft guidelines have been framed after detailed deliberations with all stakeholders including coaching institutes, law firms, government and voluntary consumer organisations. It has defined coaching as “tuition, instructions or academic support or learning programme or guidance” provided by any person. Any individual who engages in coaching shall be considered to be engaging in a misleading advertisement if important information related to the course, such as whether it is free or paid, and duration opted by the successful candidate, is concealed.
