WTF is wrong with @BYJUS?

I got a call from one of my Relative, The Sales guy pitched her wife to get the kid enrolled for some 'Home Learning Plan'

She said the boy is getting a ₹30k scholarship so they need to pay only ₹5000 in Bank and ₹25k in EMIs.

#EdTech Thread

He said this scholarship is only valid till tomorrow and you need to pay the fee by today. The Tablet will be delivered within 7 days and if you aren't happy you can return it within 15 days.

So here the game begins - They asked for

Aadhar Card
PAN Card
Bank Passbook Copy

They want PAN Card for Loan/CIBIL related inquiries, Bank Details for EMI Deductions, and Aadhar Card for signing the eNACH.

Finally, ask the customer for Aadhar OTP and sign the auto-debit on the customer's behalf. Parents wouldn’t even realize how their PAN/Aadhar got used.

They will explain to you in such a sweet way that you don't need to worry about EMIs and it will start deducting automatically from your bank after three months, you can cancel if you aren't happy.

She has shared the KYC documents over WhatsApp, made the payment and they've done the eNACH without the consent. The next day she enquired about product feedback with kid's Teachers, other parents and found it bad.

She asked the sales POC to refund the token amount.

They were clearly trying hard to convince her and said this can't be refunded and as per the policy, you need to use the course/Tab, and only after delivery you can request for refund.

She got angry because it was never communicated to her and she is having the recordings.

When she asked about eNACH they just said it's a process, we can't deliver the Tablet without EMI Mandate Signing even if you've deposited the 5000.

Note - This was also not communicated.

After hour-long discussions with two-three people, they said we can't do anything now. You can mark an e-mail to our cancellation team and they will only help you.

She's pissed off about this entire saga, for KYC and eNACH abuse and asked me if they can misuse the credentials.

They got this in writing that 'My KYC documents will be used bt BYJU's only.'

Now when the Mandate is signed physically or using eNACH, even your bank can't stop it.

If you don't maintain the balance, your bank charges a dishonor penalty so you end up becoming helpless.

I've got this escalated for her and keeping a close eye on the developments. but if this is true this needs to be stopped immediately. You can't just spam someone with your sales army and cheap tactics.

I searched BYJUS Complaints on Google and found - https://consumercomplaints.in/byjus-b115389 

Why the authorities aren’t doing anything about the malpractices? Parents living in Tier-III/IV are a very soft target for them. You're fu*king the entire education ecosystem and betraying people with such tricks.

Please RT for awareness and help people understand.

Looks like BYJU's Support Team is working on this and DMed them all the necessary details of the transaction to get this refunded.

Escalate your concern if they aren't acting on it. https://mobile.twitter.com/ByjusSupport/status/1357756212054351872

Here's the payment receipt ad received from the parents, @byjus they'd already shared their bank details over an e-mail this evening.

Kindly get the transaction refunded asap. Thanks.

Update 2 - #BYJU's Support Team was trying to refund the amount via Google Pay to the Parent's Bank A/C.

There seems to be a problem in UPI/Google Pay Network, asked them to retry or initiate the payment via NEFT directly to their bank A/C only.

That was quick. -

Just a little request to my fellow Startup Journalists -

Please get this investigated, talk to some parents and share their experiences. They're the ones who can help with actual incidents.

Twitter can delete this post or ban my profile, But they can't stop you from writing.

@upadhyay_harsh1 @Mittermaniac @manicontrol2020 @akm1410 @ShephaliBhatt @chandrarsrikant @VarshaaBansal @Sallu_SH

You all inspire the community with your reporting and I look up to you, all relevant details are ready in this Tweet. Please help. this may be happening on large.

Update - 3

Refund Initiated to the Parent's (Mr. Jayram) Bank Account.

While the resolution was quick but needs to be investigated if eNACH using Aadhar KYC is going on massively. Not everyone is getting their hard-earned money back. https://twitter.com/ByjusSupport/status/1357774602735284227