Byju's to stop selling tuition to lower-income families who struggle to afford it

2 min read . Updated: 24 Dec 2022, 06:13 AM IST Sounak Mukhopadhyay( with inputs from Reuters )

Founding partner Pravin Prakash announced Byju's would begin doing 'affordability checks'.

Bjyu's has said that it will discontinue selling tuition to lower-income families who might find it difficult to pay. In order to prevent selling its courses or providing loans to families with a monthly income of less than ₹25,000, founding partner Pravin Prakash announced the company would begin doing "affordability checks".

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued summons after a two-part Context exposé into Byju's workplace culture and customer service procedures revealed that the company had engaged in unethical business activities to entice parents. Context has spoken with a number of customers who said they had been duped into purchasing courses or exploited in some other way and were eventually unable to get their money back.

Prakash represented CEO Byju Raveendran at the December 23 closed-door hearing. It is thought to be the first notice of this kind sent to an Indian edtech company for its sales methods.

"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 in a phone interview. "We cannot regulate the functioning of a tech company, but the impact of their exploitative tactics was definitely under our purview."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools were closed and students turned to online study, Byju's saw a financial surge. But as kids returned to school and the world economy continued to deteriorate, demand started to decline. The company, which is based in Bengaluru, was established in 2011 and released its learning app in 2015.

Customers who claimed they were profiled, under pressure, and duped into signing up for the service, endangering their savings and futures, have lodged tens of thousands of complaints with the company this year alone on social media and consumer websites.

According to Byju's, it did not instruct, direct or encourage workers to seek consumers who are uninterested in or unable to pay for its items. Additionally, according to the company's statement, it does not directly provide loans but rather links parents of students who require financial assistance with outside banks or financial organisations.

(With agency inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sounak Mukhopadhyay

Sounak Mukhopadhyay, who also goes by the name Sounak Mukherjee, has been producing digital news since 2012. He's worked for the International Business Times, The Inquisitr, and Moneycontrol in the past. He's also contributed to Free Press Journal and TheRichest with feature articles. He covers news for a wide range of subjects including business, finance, economy, politics and social media. Before working with digital news publications, he worked as a freelance content writer.