Edtech major Byju’s is in the eye of another storm after it got in trouble over its adverstising. The company is facing a penalty over misleading advertisements on Indian Administrative Services (IAS).
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) penalised the edtech company with a fine of Rs 10 lakh for allegedly publishing advertisements which are false and misleading in nature regarding its online IAS coaching offering, as per reports. The company has 15 days to submit the compliance report, and has been ordered to put a stop on its advertisements.
As per the authority’s order, Byju’s failed to come up with evidence which justified that a good number of candidates got selected in UPSC Civil Services examination.
The CCPA went on to add that Think & Learn, parent company of edtech company Byju’s which offers IAS coaching, did not provide evidence that out of 1,228 civil service candidates who appeared for the exam in 2013, 62 were trained by Byju’s. The order went on to highlight that the company did not come up with any consent form or fee receipts of the selected candidates.
However, Byju’s disagreed with the order and stated that they would appeal to it.
As per the order, Byju’s IAS violated Section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (misleading advertisement in relation to any product or service) for intentionally concealing information crucial in nature with respect to specific courses attended by successful candidates in order to deceive consumers for commercial benefits.
Byju’s has been making headlines for months with the latest reports stating that the company was issued a show-cause notice for alleged FEMA violations amounting to Rs 9,000 crore, by India’s Enforcement Directorate. The company issued a swift denial saying it has not received any notice from the Enforcement Directorate. “BYJU’S unequivocally denies media reports that insinuate it has received a notice from the Enforcement Department. The company has not received any such communication from the Enforcement Department,” said a Byju’s spokesperson.