Violation of Section 10: CCP issues show-cause notice to online education institute

ISLAMABAD: An enquiry conducted by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has found that an online educational institute is distributing false and misleading information to the general public, particularly to potential teachers.

The commission has detected that the said institute is acting prima facie in violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010.

British Lyceum, having its head office in Lahore, is an online educational institute, which is an associated company of American Lyceum (Pvt.) Limited and Royal Lyceum (Pvt.) Limited, having dozens of branches across Pakistan.

CCP took notice of certain claims that British Lyceum was advertising in newspapers and posting on their website, suspecting the claims to be in violation of Section 10. The three major claims that called for CCP’s attention included: “Teachers can earn Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 250,000 per month; “Education program worthy of Rs. 3.75 billion is endorsed by Cambridge Global; and that “there are eminent educationists and technologists on our Board of Directors.”

Taking notice on its own under Section 37(1), CCP conducted an enquiry to see whether these claims violated Section 10. Regarding the first claim, the enquiry stated that British Lyceum in its newspaper advertisement announced a special package under which teachers could earn Rs. 80,000/- to 250,000/- per month, with a disclaimer published on the bottom left corner of the advertisement stating: “terms and condition apply, for details, visit website.”

The enquiry found that the disclaimer was not quite clear and noticeable to readers. The terms and conditions were not available on the website to provide full disclosure of ‘material information that may be required to the potential consumer for taking a well-informed decision; whereas the respondent also failed to substantiate the claim through evidence that the teachers can earn Rs.80000/- to 250000/- per month.

Regarding the second claim, the enquiry found that Cambridge Global was a dormant company in the UK, thus the sole purpose of claiming “collaboration with Cambridge Global” by British Lyceum (Pvt.) Ltd appeared to be for adding credibility to the programme based on falsehood. The enquiry termed the claim not only to be false but misleading, as well. Moreover, the project size of Rs. 3.75 billion was also calculated in a misleading manner and it was not supported by evidence.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022