CCPA imposes Rs 8 lakh penalty on Raising Superstars over misleading child development claims

New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 8 lakh on Raising Superstars Enterprises Private Limited for publishing advertisements that made unsubstantiated claims about accelerated child development milestones.

The action follows a complaint regarding advertisements related to early childhood development programmes offered by the company. The authority, established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, reviewed promotional material for the company’s “Prodigy Framework Program”, which included specific claims about developmental outcomes for infants and toddlers.

According to the authority, the company’s website carried time-bound milestone claims presented as potential outcomes of participation in the programme. These included statements such as “Crawling at 3 months”, “Walking at 8 months”, and “Using 200+ vocabulary by 18 months”.

The CCPA said the claims were presented in a way that could suggest accelerated developmental outcomes linked to enrolment in the programme. The authority noted that advertising in the field of infant and early childhood development requires a particularly high level of accuracy and responsibility because parents and guardians may rely heavily on such information when making decisions.

During its review, the authority examined whether the claims were supported by scientific evidence, clinical assessments or empirical research demonstrating that infants participating in the programme had achieved the milestones as described.

After examining the material and submissions made by the company, the CCPA found that the claims were not backed by scientific studies or verified data. The authority said the developmental milestone claims were “not supported by any scientific study, clinical assessment, empirical research, systematic tracking mechanism, or quantified dataset establishing a causal link between participation in the programme and the stated outcomes.”

Instead, the claims were found to be based largely on parental testimonials presented as outcome-oriented statements. According to the authority, these testimonials created the impression that such results were typical or expected, without disclosing details such as sample size, methodology or statistical reliability.

The authority also noted that the addition of general disclaimers such as “results may vary” or “no guarantee of results” did not sufficiently offset the impression created by the specific claims.

During the proceedings, the company was given opportunities to present its defence and submit supporting material. While the company stated that the claims were based on testimonials, were scientifically possible and had since been removed from its website, it did not provide scientific studies or verifiable data to substantiate the milestone claims.

Following its investigation, the authority concluded that the advertisements were misleading, falsely described expected outcomes and had the potential to influence decisions made by a particularly vulnerable group of consumers, parents of young children.

In an order dated February 25, 2026, the CCPA imposed a penalty of Rs 8,00,000 on Raising Superstars Enterprises Private Limited for dissemination of misleading advertisements and violation of consumer rights.

The authority stated that companies offering early childhood education or parenting programmes should ensure that developmental claims are supported by credible scientific evidence and that testimonials are not presented as guaranteed outcomes. It also advised consumers to verify claims before enrolling in such programmes and report misleading advertisements to the appropriate authorities.