The Indian government has warned ed-tech companies, some of which are unicorns, against unfair trade practises, including misleading advertisements and fake reviews.

Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, in a meeting with ed-tech companies on Friday, said that if self-regulation did not curb the unfair trade practices, then stringent guidelines would require to be formulated by the government for ensuring transparency.

The meeting, according to an official government statement, was attended by representatives of the industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), along with executives from its self-regulatory body IEC and member companies, including upGrad, BYJU’S, Unacademy, Vedantu, Great Learning, WhiteHat Jr. and Sunstone.

During the meeting, issues pertaining to unfair trade practices and misleading advertisement for the Indian ed-tech sector figured prominently with Singh stressing on ways to better manage consumer interests across the ecosystem.

The Secretary pointed out that it has been reported that certain advertisements and practices did not seem to conform to prevalent guidelines and existing regulations. Therefore, it’s imperative to work together to maintain robust checkpoints that align with the consumers’ interests, he added.

The problem of increasing fake reviews was also a major point of concern, which needed to be contained, the government pointed out.

A recent report by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), an ad industry watchdog, revealed that education category is the largest violator of the ASCI-formulated advertising code in 2021-22.

The DCA Secretary also advised IEC to continue with their positive efforts to serve the ecosystem and form a joint working group with relevant stakeholders to create SOPs in this regard.