New Delhi: Indian edtech giant Byju’s has promised India’s top child rights body that it will improve refund procedure systems and add an affordability check feature in its services, ThePrint has learnt.
The chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Priyank Kanoongo, told ThePrint that he had raised concerns regarding the targetting of poor households with Byju’s.
“Of the several points that we discussed, my primary concern was the way poor households were being blindsided into paying for these courses. In recourse, BYJU’s has promised to do an affordability check and has promised to not make sales pitches to families with monthly income less than Rs 25,000.”
“The company has also promised to make its refund procedures faster, another major grievance of several,” he added.
The commission had asked Byju’s to furnish details of all courses, the structure of these courses and fees, the number of students currently enrolled in each course, the refund policy and relevant legal documents.
The company on Friday submitted a document to the commission which Kanoongo said he would examine and then initiate further proceedings. The commission has also asked the edtech company to give options of paying the tuition or course fees in installments instead of the one-time lump sum amount.
The commission also raised concerns over the number of calls that were made to families and the way student data was managed. The company, in a tweet posted Wednesday, denied having indulged in any malpractice.
He added, “We have asked for some more information from the company and another meeting is scheduled on Monday.”
The commission has also told Byju’s to conduct police verification of all sales employees, who are directly in touch with students, and parents.
India’s apex child rights body had summoned Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran for a hearing Friday over allegations of malpractice.
NCPCR took suo motu cognisance of the matter after coming across news reports and issued summons to Raveendran on 16 December.
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