Edtech consortium's independent grievance body dismisses 'mis-selling' case against Byju's-owned Great Learning

The Indian Edtech Consortium (IEC)'s Independent Grievance Redressal Board (IGRB) on August 2 dismissed a 'mis-selling' plea filed by students against Byju's-owned Great Learning.

Learners alleged that Great Learning misled them by selling ‘Continuing Education and Quality Improvement Programmes’ (CE&QIP) course of IIT-B as a PGP course, Moneycontrol had reported on July 14.

The complaint was first addressed by the Board of the Screening Committee of IEC, which has members from edtech companies like Vedantu, Byju's, upGrad and Unacademy, and was later sent to the IGRB for tier 2 redressal. The IGRB is headed by former Supreme Court of India's judge Dr. Justice B.S. Chauhan.

According to the order passed by IGRB, complainants were demanding the issuance of a new certificate depicting that it was a Post Graduate Course. Over 130 learners who completed the course were represented by Amardeep Patil, and Great Learning was represented by the company's founder and chief executive officer Mohan Lakhamraju. No one appeared for IIT Bombay, the order said.

The order further said that IIT Bombay had entered into a contract with Great Learning, for delivery of 'Post Graduate Program in User Experience Design.' The Program Brochure was prepared by Great Learning and approved by IIT Bombay and Great Learning does not hold authority to change the contents of the certificate as it is issued by IIT Bombay, the order said.

"There had been no misrepresentation on part of Great Learning and/or IIT Bombay as the program brochure, program details and copy of completion certificate were issued in much advance to the prospective candidates including the Complainants," the IGRB order read.

"Since no complaint or issue was raised in this regard by the Complainants before enrollment in the said course, the Complainants cannot raise this complaint at this belated stage having prior knowledge in this regard."

A few learners said that they have approached a lawyer and would look to take legal action against Great Learning as their concerns were not resolved by the IEC. However, no official complaint has been filed against the company yet.

The IGRB's order comes as a relief to Great Learning and Byju's group companies, which were under fire for mis-selling and mis-representation. In July, Byju's had reportedly settled a consumer court plaint filed by a parent, by giving a refund of Rs 99,000 and compensation of Rs 30,000.