The embroiled edtech firm Byju’s announced on March 10 that it had disbursed a portion of the pending February salaries for all employees, with the promise to pay the remaining balance once the funds from the recently closed rights issue become accessible.
The company, in a letter to its employees, stated that the balance would be paid once the rights issue funds were available. The management also informed that they expect the salaries to be reflected in the employees' accounts on March 11.
"We processed part salaries for everyone for February late night on Friday to the extent of capital we could get outside the rights issue. The company will pay the balance once the rights issue funds are available, which we expect shortly," the company said in a letter to employees accessed by Moneycontrol.
They have made alternate funding arrangements to ensure the smooth functioning of their employees' daily lives. This announcement followed after Byju Raveendran, the founder, assured that the salaries would be paid by March 10.
The company had been unable to pay salaries due to the funds raised through a recent rights issue being locked in a separate account owing to an ongoing dispute with investors. In yet another letter to employees, Byju Raveendran regretted the company's inability to process employee salaries.
He attributed the delay in processing salaries to external pressures including the allegations levelled by certain investors of obstructing the utilisation of raised funds for payroll purposes.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had directed the company to keep the funds received from the rights issue in an escrow account until the resolution of the plea filed by four of the company's investors.
Over the past year, Byju’s has been grappling with multiple issues, including laying off thousands of employees due to dwindling venture capital funding and a slowdown in demand for online learning services.
The company has since attempted to resolve some of these issues, with early investor Ranjan Pai injecting capital, the establishment of an advisory council with veterans such as Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar, and the promotion of Arjun Mohan as CEO. The company is also considering divesting assets like Great Learning and Epic.