The Department of Consumer Affairs continues its mission to protect and empower consumers through progressive legislation and decisive action. With the repeal of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the framework governing consumer protection has been modernized to address the challenges of globalization, technological advancements, and e-commerce markets.
A key initiative under this reform is the establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) under Section 10 of the 2019 Act. The CCPA is tasked with addressing violations of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertisements to uphold the interests of consumers.
On November 13, 2024, the CCPA issued the “Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector, 2024.” These guidelines aim to curb deceptive practices in the coaching sector, ensuring students and parents are not misled by false claims in advertisements. Acting on these guidelines, the CCPA has issued 45 notices to various coaching centers, imposed penalties totaling ₹61.6 lakh on 19 institutions, and directed them to discontinue misleading advertisements and unfair practices.
The National Consumer Helpline (NCH), administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs, has emerged as a vital platform for pre-litigation grievance redressal. Accessible nationwide in 17 languages through a toll-free number (1915), the NCH also allows grievance registration via WhatsApp, SMS, email, the NCH app, the Umang app, and the web portal. Over 1,000 companies have partnered with NCH under the ‘Convergence’ program to resolve complaints directly, while grievances against non-partnered companies are forwarded to their official email for resolution.
In a recent mission-driven initiative, the NCH resolved numerous complaints related to unfair practices by coaching centers, such as non-refund of enrollment fees. These efforts have led to a ₹1.15 crore refund to students who had enrolled for competitive exams, including UPSC Civil Services and IIT entrance tests.
