The BCCI – which administers professional cricket in India – had sought initiation of insolvency proceedings against Byju’s over alleged unpaid dues of Rs 158 crore under their sponsorship contract for the Indian cricket team.
The Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Tuesday admitted BCCI’s petition seeking insolvency proceedings against ed-tech giant Byjus. The BCCI – which administers professional cricket in India – had sought initiation of insolvency proceedings against Byju’s over alleged unpaid dues of Rs 158 crore under their sponsorship contract for the Indian cricket team.
The BCCI had in September last year applied to the Bengaluru bench of NCLT against Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Byju’s, for defaulting on dues of close to ₹160 crore. The case pertains to the dispute around the sponsorship rights of the Indian cricket team’s jerseys.
It was on November 15 that the bankruptcy tribunal registered the matter for further hearing. The ed-tech firm had then said it was in talks with BCCI to settle a pending insolvency matter filed against it in Bengaluru NCLT.
“It is stated that the General notice was issued to Byju’s vide email dated 06.01.2023 and the default amount of Rs 158 crore, excluding TDS (tax deducted at source) as reflected in the invoices attached,” said the NCLT order delivered on November 28, 2023.
Byju’s previously had three key branding partnerships with the BCCI, ICC (International Cricket Council), and FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), all of which were up for renewal in 2023 but were not processed.
In July 2023, the Ministry of Corporate Affaris had asked the office of the Regional Director in Hyderabad to conduct an inspection of the company Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, which is registered in Bengaluru. In June this year, the MCA had said proceedings initiated against BYJU’S under the companies law were “still ongoing” and a final conclusion cannot be drawn in the matter as yet. It said reports claiming that BYJU’S has been cleared of financial fraud in an ongoing investigation by it are “factually incorrect and misleading”.
“The proceedings initiated by MCA under the Companies Act, 2013, are still on going and no final conclusion should be drawn in this matter at this stage,”
