The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined edtech firm Raising Superstars Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. ₹8 lakh for publishing misleading advertisements related to early childhood development milestones. The company has been ordered to deposit the penalty within 15 days and submit a compliance affidavit, failing which further action may follow under the law.
According to the CCPA order, the company made specific, time-bound claims such as “crawling at 3 months”, “walking at 8 months”, and “using 200+ vocabulary by 18 months” in connection with the ‘Prodigy Framework Program’ on its website.
CCPA said these claims were not backed by any scientific study, clinical assessment, empirical research, systematic tracking mechanism, or verified data linking participation in the programme to the promised outcomes. Instead, the claims were largely based on selective parental testimonials without scientific validation, it said in the order, dated 25 February.
The authority noted that the company itself admitted during proceedings that no scientific study, clinical assessment or empirical research had been undertaken to establish that enrolment in the programme resulted in the claimed benefits.
Raising Superstars Enterprises Pvt Ltd is a child development and education services company based in Kolkata. It offers online programmes, structured learning frameworks, and resources focused on early childhood growth. According to its website, the company caters primarily to parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers across India, providing digital content and courses aimed at supporting developmental milestones and early learning outcomes.
‘Misleading’ claims
The CCPA held that such representations were capable of misleading consumers, particularly parents and guardians of infants and toddlers, who constitute a vulnerable class of consumers.
The investigation report noted that the company failed to provide quantified or statistically validated data correlating programme participation with achievement of the advertised outcomes. The authority also noted that general disclaimers such as “results may vary” or “no guarantee of results” were insufficient to neutralise precise, outcome-oriented claims prominently displayed in advertisements.
The CCPA held that the representations amounted to misleading advertisements under Section 2(28) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and also constituted unfair trade practices under Section 2(47) of the Act. It observed that the dissemination of such claims impaired consumers’ right to be informed and could influence enrolment decisions in paid programmes.
The order recorded that about 169,000 users were acquired during the period when the impugned claims were live on the website, and that the company offered multiple paid programmes and subscription-based services. The authority noted that the misleading claims formed part of the marketing framework connected to revenue-generating offerings.
Exercising its powers under sections 20 and 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, the CCPA directed the company to cease and desist from making developmental milestone or performance-linked claims without credible, verifiable and contemporaneous scientific evidence. It also directed strict compliance with disclosure requirements under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020.
Queries sent to Raising Superstars Enterprises Pvt Ltd on Friday remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
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