NEW DELHI: The Union education ministry on Thursday sounded an alarm on claimed free online content and courses being offered by several ed-tech companies for school students, saying that in many instances, they were luring vulnerable families into paying for the services unintentionally.
In an advisory, the ministry cautioned that the offer of free services promised by some companies has to be carefully evaluated.
“It has come to the notice of the Department of School Education and Literacy that some ed-tech companies are luring parents in the garb of offering free services and getting the electronic fund transfer mandate signed or activating the auto-debit feature, especially targeting the vulnerable families,” it said.
It has urged people to avoid the automatic debit option for payment of subscription, warning that some ed-tech companies may offer the free-premium business model where a lot of their services might seem to be free at first but to gain continuous learning access, students have to opt for a paid subscription.
It asked people to read the terms and conditions before acknowledging the acceptance of software or devices as their IP address and personal data may be tracked.
Companies, which have seen rapid growth in recent times, have been told by the Centre to be careful about the claims made regarding services offered.
“It is evident that ed-tech companies which may be considered e-commerce entities have to comply with the rules to prevent untoward liability,” it said.