Adtech Unicorn ByjuImage Credit source: File Photo
Edtech unicorn Byju has once again come into the limelight after the ED raid. Today on Saturday, many important documents have been seized in the raid at Byju’s house and office. To avoid this matter, Byju has told the ED’s routine investigation of this raid. Even before this, many controversies of Byju have come to the fore, in which sometimes he has clarified and sometimes he has apologized. Here you are being told everything about BYJU’s 5 big controversies.
Employees had accused BYJU of exploitation
Recently, Edtech company Byju’s has been in discussion about the layoff of 2,500 employees out of its 50,000 employees. Working conditions in the company have been a major concern in the last few years. Byju’s was receiving a lot of criticism for its poor working environment, which led to many employees leaving the company. The employees had alleged exploitation by disclosing insecurity, long working hours, false promises.
BYJU was accused of threatening the parents of children
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had called the company’s CEO Byju Raveendran for a face-to-face meeting on Friday, 23 December 2022. Because BYJU was accused of threatening the parents of the children. The CEO was asked to personally appear before the commission regarding the alleged malpractice of hard selling and mis-selling of courses. NCPCR wrote a summon letter to Ravindran BYJU’S that the commission requires you to appear in person with details of all the courses being run by BYJU’S for children, structure and fee details of these courses, number of students at present .
Wrong information was published about Sardar Patel on Kashmir
Topics in history have always been controversial and with the active role of social-media users, it is always in the limelight. A Twitter user with the handle @erbmjha or BALA had allegedly pointed out the mistake in BYJU’s history learning material. In which users write, Shameful propaganda by @BYJUS! Sardar Patel dedicated his entire life to secure Kashmir, while Nehru took the matter to the United Nations and damaged PoK. Stop showing lies to impressionable kids! Apologize now.
Subsequently, Byju also tweeted on the micro-blogging site to clarify his stand that the chapter on ‘Kashmir’ in the textbook mentions, “Nehru wanted Kashmir to be a part of India, though Patel was of the view that Kashmir should be given to Pakistan.” must be given. But his views changed on 13 September when the government of Pakistan accepted the merger of Junagadh.
Byju’s break up with Shahrukh Khan
After the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in a drug case in Mumbai, Byju broke off his relationship with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. People aware of the matter said the edtech startup removed ads featuring the actor despite bookings after facing backlash on social media platforms like Twitter over the past few days. While SRK is the face of several leading brands such as Hyundai, LG, Dubai Tourism and Reliance Jio, Byjus was one of the biggest sponsorship deals for the actor. Aryan Khan was denied bail on Friday in connection with the ongoing drug-on-cruise probe.
BYJU ropes in Messi as brand ambassador
BYJU has appointed Lionel Messi as its brand ambassador amid layoffs and cost-cutting. While the company didn’t reveal how much they had to pay to bring Messi on board, this isn’t the first time BYJU’s has gone big on endorsements and brand ambassadors. Interestingly, in order to control the cost, at least 2,500 employees were laid off by the company. The company reported a loss of Rs 4,589 crore for FY21, which is the biggest loss ever recorded by an Indian startup.
