Well-known UPSC Teacher Vikas Divyakriti’s Drishti IAS has been fined heaviliy of Rs 5 Lakhs by Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for misleading ads to UPSC aspirants. The news was released by Indian Government on its PIB Website.

Drishti IAS has claimed that 216 students got selected in UPSC CSE 2022 however, as per the investigation done by CCPA, 162 of these students had taken free Interview Guidance Programme after they had cleared the pres and mains of UPSC CSE independently.

Repeated Violation

This is not the first time that Drishti IAS has repeated the violation. They were fined last year in September 2024 also for making a similar claim where they opined that 150+ candidates were got selected in UPSC CSE 2021. The agency found that 148 students took only the free IGP program.

7 were enrolled in Mains Mentorship Program, 4 were enrolled in GS Foundation Program, 1 in Optional course and details of remaining 1 candidate was not mentioned.

The CCPA fined them Rs 3 Lakh last year for non-compliance with advertising policies.

How does coaching institutes gain from Free Mock Interviews?

Most coaching institutes will get in touch with the students who have cleared the UPSC Pres and Main exams. They would then call the candidates for Mock Interview sessions which is FREE in most cases. These interviews often get viral on social media and leave an impression on the viewers that the candidates were trained by those institutes who are intervieweing them when in reality, those candidates had prepared from other institutes or independently and have been called by other institutes for FREE Mock interview.