upGrad’s Mayank Kumar quits as edtech consortium chairperson, PhysicsWallah's Maheshwari to take over

Mayank Kumar was the chairperson of IEC since its inception in Jan last year

Mayank Kumar, co-founder and managing director of Ronnie Screwvala’s upskilling edtech unicorn upGrad, is stepping down as the chairperson of the India Edtech Consortium (IEC), a self-regulatory body set up last year for resolving consumer complaints.

Kumar, who has been leading IEC since 2022 along with Byju’s co-founder Divya Gokulnath, has sent a mail to the members of the consortium informing them of his decision to quit, sources told Moneycontrol. Kumar wanted to focus more on operations at upGrad, so he chose to step down, they said.

Prateek Maheshwari, co-founder of Alakh Pandey’s PhysicsWallah, would replace Kumar. Kumar and Maheshwari confirmed the development to Moneycontrol.

Kumar’s departure from IEC comes nearly two years after it was set up in January 2022, with representatives from almost all of India’s edtech companies as its members. The consortium was formed under the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). IEC claims to represent 95 percent of the Indian learner community.

In November 2022, consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh met members of the consortium in New Delhi in a closed-room meeting to review the progress made by the self-regulatory body. Earlier in July, Singh had warned edtech companies of "stringent actions" if the self-regulation failed.

The IEC and its Independent Grievance Review Board (IGRB) were involved in solving a few complaints last year, including a case filed by learners of Byju’s-owned Great Learning. However, the IGRB dismissed the case.

The IGRB, whose independent members include former Supreme Court judge Justice BS Chauhan, was also consulted by leaners at Unacademy’s Relevel (now Next Level), Chuahan had told Moneycontrol in an interview last year.

Chauhan had also told Moneycontrol that the board advised edtech companies to avoid using ambiguous language in advertisements. The IEC and the IGRB have also issued a code of conduct for advertising and marketing that edtech companies need to follow, he said.