India: Consumer panel takes on Byju’s and Shah Rukh Khan for “fraudulent behaviour”

Indian edtech firmByju’sand Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan have been asked to compensate an aspirant of the Indian Administration Service (IAS) for alleged “fraudulent behaviour” and “unfair trade practice”. The order was issued by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Indore, a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The complainant woman, Priyanka Dixit, said she enrolled for the IAS coaching course withByju’safter being influenced by its advertisement which featured Shah Rukh Khan. She paid INR 1.08 lakh in fees for the course in 2021. She was promised by the company that her course would start on January 14, 2021, but it never did.

What did the commission say?

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The redressal commission askedByju’sto return the full course fees to Priyanka along with 12 per cent annual interest. It also asked both Khan andByju’sto give her INR 5,000 as litigation cost and INR 50,000 as compensation and mental agony. The commission also clarified that the local manager ofByju’sin Indore and actor Khan must pay the amount “jointly or severally” to Dixit.

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The order released by the redressal commission read, “The woman complainant was encouraged to take admission in Byju’s coaching (course) by placing false and misleading online advertisements on behalf of the opposition parties. No coaching facility was provided after receiving the fee and despite assurance of refund of the amount, the fee was not refunded, which in itself is fraudulent behaviour and shows unfair trade practice.”

Why was Shah Rukh Khan implicated in the case?

As per Priyanka Dixit’s lawyer Suresh Kanga, consumers in India can rightfully sue even the people advertising the product. “As per provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, a person can file a complaint against a company for errors in services as well as against those advertising it”, Kanga said.

Byju’sin hot water

Byju’shas already run afoul of India’s prime economic intelligence agency Enforcement Directorate or ED for allegedly remitting abroad over INR 9,700 crore of the INR 28,000 crore it received as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) since 2011. The ED carried out searches at the premises of a Bengaluru firm linked to the edtech giant on Saturday. On the other hand, theByju’shas termed it a routine enquiry.

In a statement, the company said, “We have been completely transparent with the authorities and have provided them with all the information they have requested. We have nothing but the utmost confidence in the integrity of our operations, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethics.”

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