They have pledged to refrain from selling courses to those earning less than Rs 25,000 per month.
According to the head of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Priyank Kanoongo, it also agreed to change its return policy.
In-Depth details about Byju’s agrees not to sell courses to households earning less than Rs 25000 per month:
Parents who were sold courses and loans but would have failed the affordability test would receive a full refund of their course expenses.
Before the NCPCR, two company representatives spoke on behalf of the CEO (Byju Raveendran) of the edtech company and provided a letter.
According to Kanoongo, the NCPCR will offer them formal suggestions.
On December 17, the NCPCR summoned Byju’s CEO Byju Raveendran in response to media claims that the company takes advantage of students by aggressively marketing and misrepresenting its courses.
In such stories, some parents alleged that they had been taken advantage of and duped, endangering their finances and future.
The ed-tech platform has been “actively misleading” users into signing loan-based agreements for courses that may not be repaid even if the customer wanted to, according to the article.
In addition, it has been claimed that Byju’s got numerous complaints from the parents but ignored them.
Police verification of every salesperson who interacts with pupils and parents directly has been directed to Byju’s.
“At this time, we have requested additional documents from them; they will be delivered to us on Monday. All of these things have been discussed verbally and will be provided in writing, according to Kanoongo.
According to Byju’s, it does not directly provide loans to its customers.
The company said it links parents to reputable outside banks or financial institutions upon request to help pupils who need financial support.
It further stated that 48 hours were allowed for the processing of 98.5 percent of refund requests made through authorized channels.
“By design, every sale is unapproved until it is verified by a triple-layered audit mechanism that contacts the interested customer via SMS, voice, and video calls,” a Byju’s spokeswoman said, denying any mis-spelling.
“A sale is completed at the central level,” the official continued.
BYJU’S does not encourage, order, or incentivize its sales representatives or managers to seek consumers who are disinterested in or unable to pay for its items.
A reputable international consulting organization just confirmed this absolutely in an independently conducted comprehensive poll.”
Raveendran has been asked to provide “details of all the courses run by Byju’s for children, the structure of these courses and the fees details, the number of students currently enrolled in each course, Byju’s’ refund policy, the legal documents regarding Byju’s’ recognition as a valid edtech company, and all other relevant documents regarding the claims made in the media report.”
NCPCR announced a few days after issuing a summons that it had uncovered that Byju’s reportedly obtains the phone numbers of children and their parents, which it then uses to threaten them with a ruined future if they do not purchase its courses.
This has been “vehemently refuted” by Byju’s.
