Byju’s announced that it will no longer sell tuition to families with lower incomes who may find it difficult to afford it.
Pravin Prakash, the founder partner of Bjyu’s, announced that the company would begin to do “affordability tests” to ensure it does not sell its courses or provide loans to families earning less than Rs25,000 per month.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued a summons after a two-part Context exposé into Byju’s workplace culture and customer service procedures.
It revealed that Byju’s had engaged in unethical business activities to entice parents. Context spoke with many customers who claimed they were duped into buying courses or being exploited in another way and that they couldn’t get their money back.
At the closed-door hearing on December 23, Prakash represented CEO Byju Rajeendran. This is believed to be the first notice of this type sent to an Indian edtech firm for its sales methods.
Priyank Kanoongo, NCPCR chairperson, said that “Children have got some relief today from the psychological trauma they and their families were being put through by the company’s aggressive policies,”
“We cannot regulate the functioning of a tech company, but the impact of their exploitative tactics was definitely under our purview.”
Byju’s experienced a financial boom during the COVID-19 pandemic when schools closed, and students turned to online learning. As the world economy began to decline, kids started returning to school.
Customers who claim they were profiled and pressured to sign up for the service, putting their futures at risk, filed tens of thousands in complaints against the company on social media and consumer sites.
Byju’s claims that it didn’t instruct, direct, or encourage workers not to look for consumers who were uninterested or unable to purchase its products.
According to Byju’s, the company does not provide loans directly. Instead, it links parents with financial institutions and banks that can help students.
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