ASCI Edtech Ad Guidelines: A Marketer's Claims Checklist

ASCI's guidelines for educational institutions, programmes and platforms cover edtech platforms, and they require that claims about placements, salaries, rankings, results and affiliations be substantiated, tied to the latest completed academic year, and not promise guaranteed outcomes without evidence. Separately, the government's Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued coaching-sector rules on 13 November 2024 that are legally enforceable under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. This post turns both into a pre-publish checklist, with each rule labelled by source.

Verified as of 14 October 2026, not legal advice. Check the primary documents linked below and take advice from a lawyer before you run claims you're unsure about.

Key Takeaways

• ASCI (self-regulatory) and CCPA (statutory) overlap but are not the same. ASCI's education guidelines name edtech platforms; CCPA's 2024 guidelines apply to "coaching" and to a "coaching center" defined as one coaching more than fifty students, so check whether your product falls inside that definition.
• Never promise a rank, job, salary rise or admission as an outcome. ASCI allows such suggestions only if substantiated and with the disclaimer "past record is no guarantee of future prospects"; CCPA lists guaranteed selection and similar claims as misleading.
• Result and placement numbers must relate to the latest completed academic year and carry the denominator (ASCI), and any student shown must be identified and consent in writing after selection (CCPA).
• False urgency and scarcity are named in both ASCI's content rules (for school-student contexts) and CCPA's coaching guidelines.
• Enforcement is real: CCPA's 15 May 2026 orders penalised two coaching institutes, per PIB.

Who these rules apply to

ASCI. The ASCI Guidelines for Educational Institutions, Programmes and Platforms apply to advertisements from "universities, colleges, schools, coaching classes, Edtech platforms etc." and sit alongside the general ASCI Code. ASCI's guidelines index shows the education guidelines dated 9 March 2023, and its press release of 30 May 2023 describes the update after public consultation. The guideline document itself has no stated effective date.

CCPA. The Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector, 2024 came into force on publication, notified 13 November 2024. They cover all advertisements by any person, including endorsers, in the coaching sector. "Coaching" means academic support, teaching, guidance, instruction, study programmes, tuition or similar activity, and excludes counselling, sports, dance, theatre and other creative activities. Whether a given edtech course counts is a question for your counsel; I'm not going to guess.

Both sit on top of the general rules. The CCPA's 2022 misleading advertisements and endorsements guidelines cover truthfulness, disclaimers, "free" claims, bait advertising and endorser due diligence.

ASCI vs CCPA at a glance

The pre-publish checklist (source-labelled)

1. Official status, accreditation and affiliation

• Don't call a programme or institution official, recognised, accredited, affiliated or endorsed unless you can substantiate it. (ASCI rule 1)
• If a degree legally requires recognition, name the authority for that field. (ASCI rule 2a)
• If the provider is unrecognised but affiliated with a recognised institution, give that institution's full name and location, with its name at least 50% of the font size of the advertised name in visual media. (ASCI rule 2b-c)
• Where applicable, truthfully state that courses are recognised or approved by a competent authority such as AICTE or UGC. (CCPA clause 4(1)(d))

For degree-linked programmes I'd hold a one-page "who awards the credential" sheet that every ad cites. See how I structure such pages in my program page structure post.

2. Guarantees and the number "100%"

• Don't suggest enrolment guarantees a rank, high marks, a job, admission, a promotion or a salary increase unless substantiated; if you make such a suggestion, include the disclaimer "past record is no guarantee of future prospects" in a font no smaller than the claim. (ASCI rule 3)
• Don't use 100% for abstract, non-quantifiable claims; ASCI's example is "100% Placement/Job assistance." (ASCI rule 4)
• Don't make false "guaranteed selection" claims or imply enrolment guarantees a good rank, marks, job security, promotion, salary increase or admission. (CCPA clause 3(c))

Safer wording replaces promises with process: "Career support includes resume reviews and interview practice" describes a service, while "Get placed" promises an outcome.

3. Placement, salary and result claims

ASCI's rule 5(a) says claims about placements, highest or average compensation, enrolment, admissions to renowned institutes, student marks or rankings, faculty and infrastructure must relate to the latest completed academic year and be substantiated. Rule 5(e) says placement numbers must be accompanied by the total number of students who passed out from that class.

Build a claims register (template below) so every number in an ad maps to a source, a date and a denominator.

4. Rankings and awards

• Rank claims must give the full name and date of the publication or medium that released the ranking. (ASCI rule 5b)
• ASCI's separate awards and rankings guideline requires naming the awarding body, giving the month and year, keeping the award within 12 months of the ad (unless the year is self-explanatory), and getting the awarding body's written permission. It also says a ranking in one category can't promote another, and a certificate photo alone isn't sufficient proof. For educational institutions it asks for evaluation parameters, scores and weightages on request.

5. Students in your ads and testimonials

• Topper testimonials must come from students who completed the relevant programme, exams or subject, and only from the advertising institute. (ASCI rule 5d)
• Ads showing a student's photo must state the student's name, rank and course details, and clearly state whether the student paid for the course. (CCPA, per the PIB release of 13 November 2024 and clause 4(1)(a))
• Don't use a successful candidate's name, photographs, testimonials or videos without written consent obtained after selection. (CCPA clause 4(2))

I go deeper on this in my post on student testimonials and UGC consent.

6. Fee, course and refund representations

CCPA clause 3(a) treats false claims about courses, duration, faculty credentials, fees or exit and fee-refund policies as misleading advertising. Clause 4(1)(a) requires disclosure of important information including course name and duration and whether the course is paid. Under the CCPA's 2022 guidelines, nothing can be called "free" if consumers pay beyond the unavoidable cost of responding, and a "free trial" can't be used for money-back or non-refundable offers. I cover pricing pages in the fee page post.

7. Urgency, scarcity and fear

• CCPA clause 3(e): don't create false urgency or false scarcity, or falsely imply popularity, to push immediate action.
• ASCI rule 8: no false urgency or fear of missing out that could increase anxiety in school students or parents.
• The CCPA's Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 list 13 patterns including false urgency, drip pricing, subscription traps, confirm shaming and disguised advertisement. Countdown timers that reset on every visit are an obvious example to remove.

8. Content and depiction

ASCI rules 6-9: no school students sacrificing sleep or meals, no portraying average or poor scorers as failures, no linking subjects to a gender, no implying high scorers always have stereotypical traits.

9. Disclaimers

Both regimes want disclaimers visible. ASCI's guarantee disclaimer must be no smaller than the claim; CCPA clause 4(1)(b) says disclaimers must be in the same font as the claim. The CCPA's 2022 guidelines add that a disclaimer can't contradict the main claim or hide material information.

Creators, affiliates and endorsers

Influencer content for an edtech brand falls under disclosure rules. ASCI's influencer guide says disclosure is required for any material connection, monetary or not, including free products, commissions and discount codes; it advises against burying labels among hashtags or relying on a bio-only disclosure, and says not to promote what you haven't tried.

CCPA's coaching guidelines apply to endorsers too, and PIB's release says endorsers must verify the claims they promote. On penalties, AZB Partners' summary of Section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 says endorsers face a penalty up to ₹10 lakh for a first contravention and up to ₹50 lakh for subsequent ones, plus endorsement bans of up to one and three years, with due diligence as the defence (AZB). I have not independently opened the Act's text, so confirm before quoting amounts.

Put these in every creator brief:

1. Approved claims list only; no ad-libbed outcomes.
2. Disclosure label placed upfront and visible without clicking "more".
3. A rule that learners shown in content have given written consent.

What enforcement looks like

The best evidence is PIB's 15 May 2026 release: CCPA penalised Motion Education Pvt. Ltd. (₹10 lakh) and Career Line Coaching, Sikar (₹5 lakh). The release says CCPA found featured successful students were shown while advertising paid programmes without disclosing that most were in a free rankers' batch, that photos and names were used of students who joined after exams and without proper consent, and that claims couldn't be substantiated despite requests for documents. Both institutes have appealed to the NCDRC, per the release, so treat the outcome as ongoing.

The same release cited Section 2(28) (misleading advertisement) and Section 2(47) (unfair trade practice) of the Consumer Protection Act. An earlier PIB release reported 45 suo motu notices and ₹54.60 lakh in penalties on 18 institutes at the time of the 2024 guidelines.

A 15-minute review workflow

1. List every claim in the creative, landing page and caption.
2. Map each to the claims register: source, period, denominator.
3. Check each against the nine sections above.
4. Check disclaimers' font and position.
5. Check any student appearing: name, rank, course, paid/free, written post-selection consent on file.
6. Check urgency elements for genuineness (real seat limits, real deadlines).
7. Log approver and expiry date; re-review when the academic year or data changes.

This fits alongside the audit order in my edtech SEO audit post and the general regulated-industry approach in my fintech compliance notes.

What I couldn't verify

• Whether your specific product qualifies as "coaching" under CCPA's definition.
• Section 21 amounts beyond the AZB summary.
• Any ASCI update to the education guidelines after 2023; I found none in the sources I opened, but check ASCI's page for changes.

FAQ

Do ASCI guidelines apply to edtech platforms?

Yes. The ASCI guidelines state they cover advertisements from universities, colleges, schools, coaching classes, edtech platforms and similar. They apply in addition to the general ASCI Code.

Are ASCI guidelines legally binding?

ASCI is a self-regulatory body, so its code is not itself statute. CCPA guidelines issued under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 are statutory, and PIB reports penalties imposed under them. Both matter in practice.

Can I say "100% placement"?

ASCI says not to use 100% for abstract, non-quantifiable claims, with "100% Placement/Job assistance" as its example. CCPA also lists false "guaranteed selection" style claims as misleading.

What disclaimer is required for outcome claims?

ASCI says ads that suggest enrolment guarantees a rank, job, admission or salary increase must substantiate it and include "past record is no guarantee of future prospects", in a font no smaller than the claim.

Which year's data can I use for placement stats?

ASCI says such claims must relate to the latest completed academic year and be substantiated, with placement numbers accompanied by the total number of students who passed out from that class.

Do I need written consent to show a student?

Under CCPA's coaching guidelines, yes: written consent, obtained after selection, for using a successful candidate's name, photographs, testimonials or videos.

Do these rules apply to influencers?

ASCI's influencer guide requires disclosure of material connections. CCPA's coaching guidelines apply to endorsers, and PIB says endorsers must verify claims.

Are countdown timers allowed?

Only if the urgency is real. CCPA's coaching guidelines and its 2023 dark patterns guidelines both treat false urgency as misleading.

Where can I check these rules myself?

Use ASCI's guidelines index and the CCPA's guidelines page at ccpa.doca.gov.in, then confirm with a lawyer.

Work with me

I'm Younus Fardeen, an SEO and AEO strategist with 4+ years of marketing experience, including edtech and startup work. If you want help structuring a claims register or program pages that stay accurate as your numbers change, see my work and use the contact form at https://younusfardeen.in.

Verified as of 14 October 2026, not legal advice.