81% EdTech platform users surveyed have faced issues in the last 24 months; 32% surveyed have faced issues with Byjus

June 26, 2023, New Delhi: Online education or learning via technology platforms really took off during the pandemic as parents and individuals explored the options for improved learning and doing additional courses, many offered at a discounted price as against offline classes. But over the last two years, lot of complaints have surfaced with parents approaching the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and other consumer forums to seek resolution of various fraudulent activities including overcharging course fees to not getting refund after unsatisfactory trial period, not providing any services, teacher ineffectiveness, poor quality course material, etc.

In January 2022, the central government had issued an advisory asking users to be cautious before signing up for online courses and not click on the auto-debit feature offered by companies. Union Minister of State (MoS) for education Dr Subhas Sarkar has also been reported as saying, “Do not trust the ‘success stories’ shared by the EdTech companies without proper check as they might be a trap to gather more audience.”

Over the last few years, several online education platforms have come up. Some like Lido Learning closed shutters after charging full-fee for its courses and almost all have laid off staff. Others like Udayy, Crejo.Fun, Qin1, and SuperLearn have also shut operations. Several countries have swung into action after Human Rights Watch uncovered children’s rights violations worldwide by governments that authorized unsafe online learning products during the Covid-19 pandemic. In December 2022, the NCPCR issued summons to Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran over allegations of the platform “indulging in malpractice”. In May 2023, the enforcement directorate was reported to have searched premises linked to Byjus over alleged violation of forex rules. On June 23rd, media reports that 3 directors of Byju’s representing some prominent investors had resigned along with its auditor Deloitte.

According to media reports, venture funding to EdTech sector rose from $500 million in 2019 to $4.7 billion in 2020, of which $1.9 billion flowed into Byju’s alone. In 2021, startups began popping up, with reports estimating that four out of 10 startups founded in 2021 were in the EdTech sector. And then the bubble burst. Tracxn data shows that the funding in the Indian EdTech startup ecosystem dipped from $4.1 billion in 2021 to $2.5 billion in 2022.

In 2021 and in the following year, the Ministry of Education took note of the rising complaints against the predatory marketing and advertising techniques used by edtech companies and announced plans to formulate laws to regulate this market. In response, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) constituted a self-regulatory body called the Indian EdTech Consortium (IEC). Sadly, all these remain advisory, holding mere persuasive value, stress the advocates. EdTech sector is also considered as ecommerce with eCommerce rules 2020 under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 becoming applicable on it to govern misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices however other than mere meetings between the department of Consumer Affairs and platforms in mid 2022, not much has resulted for the consumer.

Following a spate of complaints by anguished parents, LocalCircles conducted a survey to find out the key issues users of these platforms are experiencing. It also went a step further to understand which platforms were causing most anguish. The survey received over 32,000 responses from consumers located in 261 districts of India. 67% respondents were men while 33% respondents were women. 47% respondents were from tier 1, 35% from tier 2 and 18% respondents were from tier 3 & 4 districts

81% of online education platform users surveyed indicated that they had faced one or more issues in the last 24 months

The first survey question sought to know more about the kind of issues experienced. It asked respondents, “What are the kind of issues you or your family members have faced with online education platforms in the last 24 months?”. The query received nearly 12,000 responses out of some chose more than one option: 8% indicated (1) teaching staff changes/ effectiveness issues; 11% indicated (2) refund issues; 8% indicated (3) share trust issues like false promises and transparency issues; 27% opted for 1& 2 options; 27% chose all the three options while 19% indicated that they had had no issues. In all 81% of online education platform users surveyed indicated that they had faced one or more issues in the last 24 months.

65% of respondents had faced problems with getting fee refund after the trial period when the courses were found to be below expectations

Assessment of survey data shows that refunds and teaching staff changes/ effectiveness are top issues faced by online education platform users in the last two years. The top issue indicated by those surveyed shows that 65% had faced problems with getting fee refunds when the courses were found to be below expectations; 62% had problems with the changes in teaching staff/ effectiveness of teaching; and 35% had complaints about the false promises, trust and transparency issues.

32% or the largest group of respondents had issues with Byjus, 10% each pointed to Unacademy, Udemy, and others

The next question in the survey attempted to understand which specific platforms people had most issues with. It asked respondents, “In the last 24 months, which is the online education platform you and your family have faced issues with?”. This query was answered by 20,365 respondents, some of whom selected more than one option. Thus, 32% or the largest group had issues with Byjus, 10% each pointed to Unacademy, Udemy, and others; 3% indicated Vedantu; 3% Simplilearn; 2% Physicswallah. There were 10% respondents who claimed “not to have faced issues with online platforms but in person classes or institutes”; and 20% “have not faced any issues with any education platform”. The survey response shows that while 32% have faced issues with Byjus, there are several others which users had issues with indicating that there is a need for clear set of regulations to govern the sector.

To summarise, the survey finds that 81% of edtech users surveyed have faced issues in the last 24 months and the three key issues are refunds, teaching staff changes/effectiveness and false promises, trust and transparency issues. While Byjus has been the platform that the highest 32% users in the survey reported an issue with, there were grievances against Udemy, Unacademy, Simplilearn, Vedantu and several others. According to reports, the EdTech industry’s problems go far beyond those faced by those enrolling. Employees across platforms have complained of abusive managers, toxic work culture and long hours. The need of the hour here is for Ministries like Education, MEITY, Consumer Affairs and Labour to come together, form rules and ensure both the platforms and the consumers are aware of what is expected. If done right, edtech is a sector which has huge potential to improve access of quality education across the country.