Byju's yet to pay provident fund for several months to many ex-employees

Byju's made contributions for December 2022, January, February and March on June 19 and then too all employees did not receive the payment

Several former employees of crisis-stricken Byju's have not received the provident fund (PF) component of their salaries in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), a report by the Hindu Businessline (HBL) said on Monday.

The data from EPFO, according to the report, also shows that the edtech unicorn's parent Think and Learn Pvt Ltd has not paid the monthly deposits for most of its employees in 2023-24 (FY24). The company made contributions for December 2022, January, February and March on June 19. Moreover, all employees did not receive the payment.

The HBL report also said that in some cases, PF due for 2020 was paid only in June this year. Notably, the EPFO rules state that a company should deposit the PF money for a month by the 15th of the next month. Any delay may attract penalties ranging from 5 to 100 per cent.

Byju's has been in a fix after several of its board members resigned last week, including those representing Peak XV Partners, Prosus, and Chan Zuckerberg.

Also Read: Edtech major Byju's tells investors it will file 2022 earnings by Sept

Its auditor Deloitte has also resigned, cutting short its term that was to end in 2025. The consultancy said there was a "significant impact" on its ability to audit the firm as it did not receive financial records from Byju's despite several reminders. Byju’s has appointed BDO as its new auditor.  

In a statement last week, Byju's confirmed the resignation of board members attributing it to their shareholding falling below the minimum required threshold.

"We want to reassure all stakeholders that we are actively working towards constituting a diverse and world-class board commensurate with the company's size and scale," it said.

According to the news agency Reuters, Byju's has told investors it will file 2022 audited earnings by September and 2023 results by December.