Sandeep Srivastava, Director of Product at Agentic AI, Microsoft, has publicly criticised the now-troubled coaching institute FIITJEE for alleged mismanagement, insufficient digital infrastructure, and major data privacy violations.
In a sharply written LinkedIn post, Srivastava outlined his own experience with the coaching institute, warning parents not to fall for "resurrection propaganda."
He claimed that not even a single class was conducted for his daughter by the institute, despite paying in advance, Financial Express reports.
“In short, DO NOT FALL FOR FIITJEE. I lost ₹71,000, you can save yours,” Srivastava wrote in his LinkedIn post.
He criticised FIITJEE's online platform as "incapable of delivering quality lectures as per plan" and said that the academic office lacked responsibility due to continual turnover in teaching and support staff.
According to him, the digital infrastructure is "non-existent," with classes recorded on phones and taught using chalk-and-board methods.
He further claimed that FIITJEE's helpline number is unresponsive, and communication is frequently filled with errors or nonexistent. In addition, promised schedules are consistently missed or changed without prior notice.
“They make promises they don’t keep. They keep cancelling calls with parents, scheduled class start dates,” he said.
However, the most worrisome allegation Srivastava levelled against FIITJEE was regarding its data privacy — or lack thereof.
“Worst of all, they also leak out all your personal information and that of your kid to their competition… Their staff is selling it for money,” he wrote, alleging that he has been contacted by numerous competing coaching institutes, including Allen, Vedantu, and Narayana, after he enrolled his daughter in FIITJEE.
Srivastava announced that he was taking legal action against FIITJEE after failing to receive the refund of the Rs 71,000 he paid in advance.
"I am now pursuing them in consumer court," he stated, calling on the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to look into FIITJEE's operations and "curb the menace of cheating and fraud."
He said that he is not alone, claiming to have heard "similar stories from other parents."