| Forum For Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination | |
 | |
| Formation | 1992; 32 years ago (1992) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Dinesh Kumar Goel |
| Type | Coaching institute |
| Headquarters | FIITJEE House, 29-A, Kalu Sarai Rd, Vijay Mandal Enclave, Kalu Sarai, South Delhi, Delhi - 110016, India |
| Region served | India, Bahrain, Qatar |
| Services | Coaching institute for IIT-JEE and various engineering entrance examination |
| Official language | English |
| Key people | DK Goel (Founder) |
| Staff | 3,200+ |
| Website | fiitjee.com |
FIITJEE is a coaching institute based in India designed to help students in competitive exams. It offers courses for students in grades 6-12 aspiring to appear in numerous competitive exams and other examinations.
History
DK Goel, a Mechanical Engineering Graduate from IIT Delhi, founded FIITJEE in 1992. FIITJEE offers coaching for students aiming for admissions into IITs and NITs in India as well as students aiming for various science olympiads. FIITJEE Limited was incorporated on 13 October 1997 as public company limited by shares.
Controversies
2009 AIEEE and IIT-JEE topper
A 2009 IIT-JEE topper, Nitin Jain, who had used the institution for his exams, said that he had been coerced into writing a letter of recommendation, which the organisation used in advertisements. The institute opened a website where they published responses under Jain's name. He and his father accused FIITJEE and another institution, Byju's", for "misusing" Jain's name "for commercial interest". Jain clarified that he had never attended the Byju's. The Union Ministry for Human Resource Development referred the matter for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation. FIITJEE denied the allegations.
Jain later wrote in his book The Secret of My Success that he was "subtly pressurised" and "cajoled into writing the letter, and most of it was not true." FIITJEE moved the Delhi High Court, claiming that parts of the book were "defamatory, offensive and fallacious", seeking a permanent injunction on the book's publication. The High Court dismissed the appeal, citing that the institute needed to prove that what the writer had published in his book was wrong. Jain and his father said that Nitin had received a lesser amount under the institute's Talent Reward Exam than what the institute claimed, and that too after several rounds of the institute's office.
Refund cases
FIITJEE has faced several cases in Consumer Courts for not returning fees paid by students when leaving the institute. In one such case in April 2017, the Hyderabad district consumer court directed FIITJEE to return 75% of the fees paid upfront and pay compensation of ₹1 lakh to parents. A Nagpur district forum ruled out that coaching classes taking advance fees was a discrepancy. They directed FIITJEE to refund ₹75,000 to a student who had enrolled in a 4-year program but left it following the lack of discipline and a biology teacher for two years.
Paradise Papers
On 6 November 2017, the Paradise Papers revealed that 19,52,907 shares of FIITJEE valued at ₹36 crore were sold by QLearn company of Mauritius to Mumbai's Ambit Group in July 2015. QLearn is a subsidiary of Qatari firm Qinvest and the Ambit Group is one of its investors.
2024 Centre Shutdowns and Refund cases
On July 12, 2024, Two centres of FIITJEE located in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad were shut down abruptly following disputes. The parents of affected students filed police cases against the Institute at Chinchwad Police Station accusing the Institute of scamming them of money.
2024 Founder DK Goel abusing his employees
In December, FIITJEE founder and chairman, DK Goel, faced controversy after footage of a video showing him abusing his employees with misogynistic slurs during an official staff Zoom meeting regarding delayed staff salaries and a toxic work culture leaked.
References
- The exams are IIT-JEE, NTSE, KVPY, JSTSE, The Indian National Olympiads (INChO, INMO, INPhO), etc.
- Deka, Kaushik (29 August 2020). "The coaching game". India Today.
- "The FIITJEE Way to IIT". The Hindu. 6 December 2015.
- Mukul, Akshaya (10 July 2010). "CBI to probe 'credit' tussle over IIT topper". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- "Institute red-faced as HC won't ban IIT topper's book". The Indian Express. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- Vatyami, Nirupa (3 April 2017). "Return student's fee, FIITJEE told". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- Ganjapure, Vaibhav; Nelarwar, Mohnish (21 April 2017). "Consumer Forum asks FIIT JEE to refund ₹75,000 to student". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- Yadav, Shyamlal (6 November 2017). "Paradise Papers: Qatar firm invested in coaching giant FIITJEE via Mauritius". The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- "2 FIITJEE coaching centres shut, parents seek cops' help". The Times of India. 15 July 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- "Over 300 parents duped of lakhs of rupees in coaching fees as FIIT JEE shuts down centres in Pune". Hindustan Times. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- "fiitjee-chairman-s-abusive-outburst-sparks-outrage-as-viral-video-surfaces". Hindustan Times. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.