Man Sues Edtech Platform For Poor Service, Gets Subscription Fee Refund With Rs 30,000 Compensation

Distressed with the low quality of the study material and the tablets provided to his children, a man sued a major Edtech company in a consumer court. He won a refund of ₹99,000 that he had paid as a fee, along with a compensation of ₹30,000.

Last year, in 2021, representatives of BUJU'S learning app visited Manju R's Chandra Layout house and convinced him to subscribe to the learning app for his children for school subjects.

Later, on July 25, Chandra and his cousin, Madhusudhana B, used a credit card and took the BYJU'S subscription for ₹99,000 after the representatives promised the subscription fee would be converted into an EMI. Chandra's two children, a boy and a girl, were also provided with a Samsung tablet, each worth ₹25,000 for the kid's online tutoring by the app.

Delivered With Poor Quality Material, Service

However, in a few days, they realised that the devices provided were of poor quality. A few days into tutoring, the family saw that neither the study material nor the tabs they received were worth the money they paid. Further, the conversion of the fee paid into the EMI never happened.

Following this, on August 19, 2021, Chandra and Madhusudhana demanded that their subscription be cancelled, and the money be refunded. Email and phone calls were made concerning this to the learning app, but all went in vain, reported The Times of India.

Complaint Against The Learning App

Pertaining to no response from BYJU'S, both the individuals approached Bengaluru Rural and Urban 1st Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Shantinagar with a complaint against Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, which runs the learning app.

At the court, Chandra and Madhusudhana presented their claims with the proof of payments and the products given. Despite being served with a legal notice, BYJU'S failed to appear before the court and was declared ex-parte, reported Mint.

Consumer Court's Verdict

The consumer court, on May 10, 2022, in their verdict, noted the opposite party's failure to appear in the forum and concluded that there was indeed service deficiency on its part.

The court ruled that the Managing Director (MD) of BYJU'S must repay the customer the fee of ₹99,000 with 12 per cent interest. The court also ordered the learning app to pay ₹25,000 towards damages and ₹5,000 towards litigation expenses to the customers, who were also asked to return the tablets upon receiving the amount.

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