After the Centre took serious note of edtech firms, including BYJU and its group companies, mis-selling courses to parents, self-regulatory organization India Edtech Consortium (IEC) stated that it is committed to protecting consumer interests and has resolved 100 percent of complaints received up to June.
According to sources, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs pulled up edtech firms during a meeting with them and the IEC, and aggressive misselling of courses to parents was the major concern.
The IEC, which operates under the aegis of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and has established a two-tier grievance redressal mechanism, stated that it had resolved all complaints received until June 2022 and that complaints received in July were being actively screened for faster resolution.
Dr B.S. Chauhan, Retd SC Judge & Chairperson of Independent Grievance Redressal Board (IGRB), said, “The edtech sector is extremely dynamic in nature and therefore, to address the rising challenges, what IEC is proactively doing will certainly propel a stronger ecosystem in the coming times.”
The IEC further stated that each member company has established an internal grievance officer to discuss and assess the matter and suggest appropriate remedial action.
It was also said that IEC-member companies are registering with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) in order to streamline the resolution procedure.
Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder, MD, UpGrad & Chair, IEC, said, “Edtech as a strong community has been far more responsible and prompt than our traditional counterpart in managing consumer complaints and grievances.”
Recent reports have said that as per the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) data, 33 percent of complaints are filed against the education sector.
However, the official statement by ASCI also states that 6 per cent of the total complaints received are against the edtech companies while the remaining 94 per cent are filed against the traditional education system, according to the IEC.
Earlier this month, the Centre warned edtech companies against unfair trade practices.
In a meeting with the IEC, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh stated that if self-regulation does not curb unfair trading practices, severe norms will be developed to ensure transparency.
The meeting was attended by IAMAI representatives as well as IEC member companies such as upGrad, BYJU’S, Unacademy, Vedantu, Great Learning, WhiteHat Jr, and Sunstone. The IEC is made up of edtech startups and represents 95 percent of the Indian learner community. Unfair trade practices and deceptive advertisements in the Indian edtech sector were prominently discussed during the discussion.
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