BYJU'Ss will stop selling tuition or provide loans to families with a monthly income of less than Rs 25,000. The founding partner, Pravin Prakash who represented CEO Byju Raveendran at an NCPR hearing, also announced that the company would begin doing ‘affordability checks’ before selling courses to parents.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued a summons after a two-part exposé into BYJU'S workplace culture and customer service revealed that the company had engaged in unethical business activities to entice parents. Several customers said they had been duped into purchasing courses or exploited in some other way and were unable to get their money back.
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BYJU'S was represented by Pravin Prakash before the commission at the December 23 closed-door hearing. After the hearing, Prakash said the company would start carrying out ‘affordability checks’ to ensure the company doesn’t sell its courses or offer loans to families with a monthly income of below Rs 25,000.
“Children have got some relief today from the psychological trauma they and their families were being put through by the company's aggressive policies,” NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said, as per a Reuters report.
The ed-tech major on Friday filed a comprehensive response to the notice by the NCPCR that alleged the company is buying phone numbers of children and their parents and threatening them to buy its courses. Denying the allegations, the company said that the NCPCR had issued a summons based on a single report based on unnamed sources.
According to BYJU'S, it did not instruct, direct, incentivise or encourage workers to seek consumers who are uninterested in or unable to pay for its products. Additionally, it said that the company has a robust refund policy for all products and services, and it does not directly provide loans but rather links parents with outside banks or financial organisations.
The company, which is based in Bengaluru, was established in 2011 and it launched its learning app in 2015. The ed-tech currently has over 150 million registered learners.
In the past, customers claimed that they were profiled and duped into signing up for BYJU'S services, risking their savings and future. Tens of thousands of complaints with the company have been lodged this year alone on social media and consumer websites, Livemint reported.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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