Byju's crisis: The National Law Company Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru has issued a notice regarding a petition filed by Teleperformance Business Services, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) entity, seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings against the parent company of edtech startup Byju's.
A special bench, constituted by judicial member Justice (retired) T Krishnavalli and technical member Manoj Kumar Dubey, has given Byju's two weeks to file their reply, according to a report by Bar and Bench. The hearing is set for March 11.
Teleperformance, an operational creditor of Byju's and the Indian arm of a French multinational company, filed the petition through King Stubb & Kasiva on November 4, 2023.
The petition states that a service agreement was signed between the parties on April 16, 2022, and 21 invoices raised from March 14 to the end of August 2023 remained unpaid by Byju's.
The outstanding debt is Rs 4.82 crore, with an additional Rs 21 lakh in interest. Besides this petition, there are two other lenders - Surfer Technologies and international lenders - seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings against Byju's.
Byju's shareholders have called for founder Byju Raveendran's ouster and seeking a leadership change. Shareholders expressed serious doubts about the firm's future stability under the current leadership. Prosus Ventures, a 9 per cent stakeholder in Byju’s, released the statement, claiming support from anonymous co-investors. The edtech firm, in response, said that the investors who are demanding the removal of Raveendran lack voting rights.
Raveendran, subsequently, said that he has been “moving mountains for months” to pay the salaries of his employees. The company also alleged certain investors of conspiring and demanding the ouster of Raveendran. "We are pained to see this action from a few of the investors who should have supported us in our fight at these challenging times, instead of directly speaking to the media. The founders are the largest investors and the greatest fighters for BYJU's," the letter read.
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