BYJU’S Won’t Sell Courses To Families With Less Than INR 25K Monthly Income

Two representatives from edtech giant BYJU’S on Friday (December 23) held a meeting with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on behalf of the company’s CEO Byju Raveendran. 

Refuting the claims of unfair trade practices, the representatives said the panel’s allegations were based on a single news report, which made ‘sweeping generalisations’ on the basis of unnamed sources. 

Responding to the charges of ‘mis-selling’ of its courses, the startup’s officials claimed that the company does not encourage its staff to pursue customers who are either uninterested or unable to pay for its products. 

Noting that the final execution of its sales takes place at the central level, the representatives claimed that its marketing personnel are not authorised to ‘close the sale of a product at the point of sale.’ 

The representatives of the edtech major said that the company does not directly offer loans to users, rather it connects parents of subscribing students with third-party financial institutions for credit facilities. 

“It is impossible for any sales executive to get a loan approved merely by making a potential customer sign some documents… The sale is concluded only after independent verification and approval by the institution providing the financing option,” the startup’s representatives said, according to a Business Standard report. 

Answering the questions about its refund policy, the officials of BYJU’S said the company has a robust refund policy, which ensures that refund requests, submitted through official channels, are resolved within 48 hours.

BYJU’S Agrees For Affordability Test

Meanwhile, the NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo said that the edtech company has agreed to evaluate affordability of parents before offering them courses and loans. He added that the edtech giant assured the panel that it will modify its refund policy, too.

“They have agreed that they will not be selling courses to families having monthly income of less than INR 25,000. They have also agreed to refund the full course fees to parents who would have failed the affordability test but were sold courses and loans,” Kanoongo said, according to Moneycontrol.

Meanwhile, the NCPCR chief has directed the edtech giant to conduct police verification of all its sales employees.

The commission will again meet with the company’s representatives on Monday (December 26). The panel has sought further details and documents from the edtech major on some issues.

This comes a day after the NCPR chief alleged that BYJU’S was reportedly purchasing databases containing phone numbers of children and their parents to force them into buying its courses.

This adds to the growing list of problems for the edtech startup. BYJU’S has already been bogged down by mounting losses, mass layoffs, rising debt, and dwindling user interest. However, BYJU’S is still the biggest player in the edtech industry, with more than 150 Mn users on its rolls.