(Yicai Global) April 26 -- China's market regulator had given four private education providers, including Koolearn Technology Holding and Xueersi Education Technology, fines of CNY500,000 (USD77,050) each due to false advertising.

Gaotu Group and Gaosi Education were also in the group of four, the Beijing arm of the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a notice yesterday.

Gaotu, which used to be known as GSX Techedu, had shown misleading course package prices on its website to lure consumers. The three others were punished for similar violations.

Xueersi and Gaotu accepted the administrative penalties and will delete the ads and carry out special reviews on pricing issues on all their platforms, they told Yicai Global.

Online schools in China raised over CNY53.9 billion (USD8.3 billion) via more than 110 fundraisers last year, which is more than the combined total of the past four years, according to e-commerce database Dianshubao.

But the money may have intensified some problems. The Beijing Sunshine Consumption Big Data Research Institute logged 2.7 million complaints about education last year, mostly involving teaching quality, as well as contract and refund disputes.

On April 23, the capital city's SAMR had inspected some renowned online training institutions in China. They had found out that some made students pay early admission fees, whereas some courses were priced lower than the costs. Moreover, some classes ended after 9 p.m.

Extracurricular training was a topic mentioned during this year's political highlight of the Two Sessions. Xinhua News Agency commented that China should make sure that the education sector develops in an orderly and controllable manner while restricting excessive profit-seeking.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi