BENGALURU: The National Law Company Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday issued a notice in an insolvency plea filed by Surfer Technologies, a digital marketing firm, against Byju’s. NCLT Bengaluru has asked the edtech company to file a response in two weeks.
Surfer is said to have argued that the edtech company had incurred a debt of Rs 2.3 crore and that the company had also issued notice to Byju’s in this regard in December last year.
This is said to be the fourth plea that seeks the initiation of insolvency proceedings against the firm. Earlier, foreign lenders, who collectively provided over 85% of Byju’s $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB), filed an insolvency plea against the firm. The second one was filed by France-based Teleperformance Business Services India. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) filed an insolvency plea against the firm regarding default in sponsorship dues.
On foreign lenders filing an insolvency plea, Byju’s had said any proceedings by lenders before NCLT are premature and baseless. Byju’s spokesperson had said, “As we have stated before, the validity of lenders’ actions, including acceleration of the term loan, is pending and under challenge in several proceedings, including before the New York Supreme Court.”
Meanwhile, Byju’s paid January salaries. It was struggling to pay salaries and founder Byju Raveendran in an emotional letter to employees said he has been moving mountains for months to make payroll, and this time, “the struggle was even bigger to ensure that you receive what you deserve.” He added, “The world reads regularly about my daily struggles. But I will someday tell you about my monthly miracles. Over time, I believe that a hidden miracle accompanies every struggle; one has to keep moving forward.”