Vendor Jigsaw moves NCLT seeking insolvency proceedings against Stayzilla

The dispute between online accommodation aggregator Stayzilla and one of its vendors, Jigsaw, saw  a new turn, with the latter approaching National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The NCLT Bench on Thursday adjourned the matter for hearing to next week.

The company approached NCLT seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings since Stayzilla has failed to pay the dues and stopped operations without clearing dues, said Aditya CS, founder of Jigsaw. Stayzilla founder Yogendra Vasupal did not comment on the NCLT matter.

It may be noted that the dispute between the two companies triggered a series of discussions in the industry. The issue came to the light after Stayzilla announced its plan to halt operations with its existing model, with plans to restart with a different business model. Vasupal was arrested on March 14 on charges of allegedly cheating after Jigsaw complained that the dues of over Rs 1.69 crore were not paid by Stayzilla.

Jigsaw complained that it was not paid the amount, which was due, and the Crime Branch initiated action against Stayzilla founders.

Stayzilla argued that it was a civil case and criminal charges were foisted to put pressure on the company's founder. It further argued that it is a dispute on account of non-performance of the obligations under the contract between the two companies.

Various industry bodies had earlier united behind Vasupal and sought intervention of the government and leaders of various industry bodies including CII Start Up Council Chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan, NASSCOM Executive Council Member Ravi Gururaj has said that there is an immediate need to lay guidelines on business closures, while over 1000 entrepreneurs came out in support of Vasupal, through an online page www.help-yogi.com.