Edtech giant Byju’s, which is facing inquiry from National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), on Wednesday denied reports that said the company was buying students’ database and termed the allegations as “baseless and unsubstantiated”.
On Tuesday, a news agency, citing Priyank Kanoongo, chairman of NCPCR, reported the government outfit has learnt that Byju’s was buying phone numbers of children and their parents, following them and “threatening” that their childrens’ future will be ruined. NCPCR also said if there is a need, it will initiate action, file a report and even write to the government.
“With more than 150 million registered students and with the top-of-the-mind recall that the Byju’s brand has in India, we do not need to buy or use external databases. We emphasise that our lead pipeline comprises exclusively of our app users, walk-ins and incoming requests for consultation,” a Byju’s spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“Byju’s is ranked No. 19 in the coveted Kantar list of India’s most trusted brands. We do not need to and we never make cold calls or unscheduled walk-in visits. We strongly refute any allegation that indicates otherwise.” The NCPCR, a statutory body which is tasked to deal with the protection of child rights and other matters, demanded that Byju Raveendran, CEO, Byju’s be present in person before it at 2 pm on December 23.
That, after reports surfaced which alleged that Byju’s was was mis-selling and “actively tricking” parents into buying courses they could not afford. It further claimed that Byju’s deployed sales strategies which resulted in several families facing huge financial losses and “put their savings and futures in jeopardy”.
Highlighting the magnitude of the situation, if Raveendran failed to comply with the order, without a lawful excuse, he would be “subjected to the consequences of the non-attendance”, the NCPCR said on Friday. The NCPCR also plans to seek more details from Raveendran on why his sales teams “exploited and deceived” parents by “indulging in malpractices to lure parents”.
“…along with the details of all the courses run by Byju’s for children, the structure of these courses and the fee details, the number of students currently enrolled in each course, the refund policy of Byju’s, the legal documents regarding the recognition of Byju’s as a valid ed-tech company and all other relevant documents regarding the claims made in the aforementioned news report,” the NCPCR had said in its summon earlier.