Overview

• The regulator said 162 of the 216 candidates cited by Drishti IAS had only taken the institute’s free Interview Guidance Programme after clearing Prelims and Mains on their own.
• Only 54 of the named candidates enrolled in the interview guidance along with other courses at the institute.
• CCPA deemed the omission of course type and duration to be a misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and stressed the need for truthful disclosure in result claims.
• This constitutes a repeat violation for Drishti IAS, which was fined ₹3 lakh in September 2024 for a similar “150+ selections in UPSC 2021” advertisement.
• In broader enforcement across the coaching sector, the CCPA has issued 54 notices and imposed over ₹90.6 lakh in penalties on 26 institutes for deceptive advertising practices.