On Wednesday, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Bengaluru, issued notice to edtech behemoth Byju’s in an insolvency proceeding filed by customer support company Teleperformance Business Services India Ltd. Teleperformance alleges that Byju has defaulted on payment of Rs 4.82 crore, excluding Rs 21 lakh interest to the company in lieu of business process outsourcing services provided by the company.
Think and Learn Pvt Ltd or Byju’s had entered into an agreement with the company on April 16, 2022. The tribunal gave two weeks for Byju’s to file its objections and gave one week to the operational creditor to file a reply and listed the matter on March 11.
Byju Faces Multiple Insolvency Petitions
In November 2023, Teleperformance filed its application, which was registered on January 25. Byju is also facing an insolvency petition under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, from digital marketing firm Surfer Technologies for a default of Rs 2.3 crore, besides from the cricketing body Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The cricket body claims that Byju’s had defaulted on a Rs 158 crore payment in lieu of an extension of the jersey sponsorship agreement. At the last hearing, the NCLT bench rejected Byju’s plea to dismiss the insolvency case as it was trying to settle the matter via arbitration. The bench in the BCCI case has listed the matter for February 28.
Byju Negotiations with BCCI Denied by Counsel
Earlier, Byju informed the tribunal about its negotiations with BCCI, a claim denied by BCCI counsel. Byju’s signed a three-year jersey sponsorship agreement in March 2019, which it extended for another year. The dispute pertains to the payments from October 2022 till March 2023.
Facing financial troubles, Byju US arm filed for bankruptcy after defaulting on debt of $1.2 billion. Additionally, the company has been facing an insolvency petition from its lenders.
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