The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) slapped a Rs 5 lakh penalty on Drishti IAS for misleading prospective civil services aspirants about its role in their success.
The coaching institute, registered under VDK Eduventures Pvt Ltd, claimed on its website that it had "216+ selections in UPSC CSE 2022," featuring photographs and names of successful candidates prominently alongside advertisements for its various courses.
However, the reality behind these numbers told a different story, CCPA revealed.
What the CCPA investigation found
The CCPA uncovered that three-quarters of the claimed successes had barely any connection to Drishti IAS's teaching programmes.
As stated in the final order, "Out of these 216 candidates, 162 were enrolled in the Interview Guidance Program (IGP) and 54 candidates were enrolled in IGP+ other courses".
This meant that 162 candidates—75 per cent of those claimed—already cleared the demanding Preliminary and Mains stages of the UPSC examination independently before taking only the institute's free Interview Guidance Programme.
The CCPA's investigation said that this concealment was particularly problematic because it misled students about the institute's actual contribution to their success.
The order noted that "162 students (75 per cent) cleared the Prelims and Mains stage without any assistance of the opposite party".
Repeat offender
This wasn't the institute's first brush with regulatory action. The authority previously penalised the institute Rs 3 lakh in September 2024 for similar misleading claims about "150+ selections in UPSC CSE 2021."
In that case, 148 out of 161 claimed students had only taken the Interview Guidance Program, while just seven were enrolled in the Mains Mentorship Program.
Despite being penalised and cautioned earlier, the institute continued the same practice for the 2022 results, actually increasing its claims from "150+" to "216+" selections.
The CCPA order stressed that "even after issue of notice by CCPA for misleading claim of 150+ selections for UPSC CSE 2021, the opposite party has enhanced the claim to 216 + selections".
CCPA and consumer rights
The CCPA called out the institute in its order, stating that information about which courses successful candidates actually took "is an important information for consumers to know so that they can make an informed choice while deciding which institute to join and which course to opt for to prepare for UPSC Civil Service exams".
The authority noted that by simultaneously advertising various courses, including "Mentorship Program, Asmita Scholarship, Foundation Course, Optional Subject Courses, Mock interviews, Online coaching," Drishti IAS created the impression that all these courses had the same success rate, which wasn't true.
The CCPA's order went on to explain why this mattered. The UPSC Civil Services Examination has three stages: Preliminary (screening), Mains, and Interview. Out of over 11 lakh candidates who applied for UPSC CSE 2022, only 13,090 qualified for Mains, 2,529 appeared for the interview, and just 933 were finally selected.
While the Interview stage carries 275 marks out of a total 2025, the real competition occurs at the Preliminary and Mains stages, where the vast majority of candidates are eliminated.
The CCPA found it misleading that Drishti IAS took credit for candidates' overall success when most had independently cleared the most challenging stages.
Industry-level crackdown
The latest action is part of a broader crackdown on coaching institute advertisements. The CCPA has issued 54 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and imposed penalties totalling over Rs 90.6 lakh on 26 institutes.
The authority observed that "all such institutes concealed important information regarding the courses opted for by successful candidates in their advertisements."
In Drishti IAS's case, the institute did eventually start disclosing course details for successful candidates on its website, but only after the CCPA's investigation began.
The order noted that "for UPSC CSE, 2023 results, Drishti IAS is now displaying course details along with the candidate name on its website".
The Rs 5 lakh penalty reflects the repeat nature of the offence and the nationwide impact of the misleading advertisement on the institute's website. The CCPA emphasised that "misrepresentation of facts in advertisements interferes with" students' right to make informed decisions, especially when they "might invest their time, money, and effort based on misleading claims."
