At Byju’s, a loan crisis and no sign of funding

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Editor's note: “We were always told, teachers don’t cheat people. If teachers start defrauding, where will we go,” says P over the phone from Jammu. “I saved every penny and put all into my child’s education. And now I am stuck. My child isn’t going to classes. My money is gone. My credit rating has been destroyed.”  P paid almost Rs 40,000 (down payment + first equated monthly instalment) in June 2022 to enrol his child in a batch at a Byju’s Tuition Centre. That is a month’s salary for him. He also took a Rs 2.3 lakh loan from education-focused financial company Avanse Financial Services. The Byju’s salesperson who processed the papers told P he could cancel anytime within a month and get a full refund. Classes didn’t start for a month. P was finally told that his child will get classes at an Aakash Educational Services tuition centre and not at Byju’s. Worse, his child was enrolled in a batch that was already three months old. The child felt lost. P called the salesperson, went to the tuition centre, even …