BYJU’s loses litigation, to pay damages to customer

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru:

A man won a refund of Rs 99,000 and additional compensation of Rs 30,000 after he sued a major Edtech company for providing poorquality reading material and tablets. The complainant has been identified as Manju R.

In 2021, some representatives of the BYJU’s learning app visited Manju R's house in Chandra Layout and persuaded him to subscribe to the app for his children's education. On July 25, 2021, Manju and his cousin Madhusidhana B used a credit card to subscribe to the app for Rs 99,000. The representatives also informed them that the fees would be converted into EMI.

They were also promised Samsung Tablets worth Rs. 25,000 each for the kids. But Manju later realised the items provided were of low quality. After a few days of classes, the family realised that the study material and tablets were not worth their money.

Also, the fee paid was not converted into EMI. On August 19, 2021, Manju and Madhusudhana demanded that their subscription to the app be cancelled, and the money be refunded. They sent emails and made phone calls to BYJU’s but didn't hear back from them.

Later, the brothers approached Bengaluru Rural and Urban 1st Additional Disputes Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Shantinagar and filed a complaint against Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, which runs BYJU's. They presented their claims with proof of payments and the products given to them.

BYJU's failed to appear before the forum, despite being served with a legal notice and was declared exparte. On May 10, 2022, the consumer court noted the appearance failure by the opposite party and concluded that there was indeed a service deficiency.

The court finally ruled that the MD of the learning app must repay the customer the fee of Rs. 99,000 with 12 percent interest. The court also ordered BYJU's to pay Rs. 25,000 as damages and Rs. 5,000 towards litigation expenses to the customers, who were requested to return the tablets after receiving the amount.