Delhi to Delaware: No end in sight for edtech giant Byju's problems

Ex-employees planning to take firm to NCLT next week to demand their dues

Last year, Ajay (name changed) an employee at the beleaguered edtech giant Byju’s, purchased a house in Mumbai for over Rs 1 crore as a gift for his parents. He took a loan of about Rs 75 lakh from the bank on EMI (equated monthly installment). However, a few months after the deal, Byju’s handed him the pink slip. He had to sell off his property at a lower price last year and relocate to his previous accommodation at a chawl.

“It was a middle-class boy’s dream to gift a home to his parents and get them out of the chawl in Mumbai,” said Ajay.

He was also forced to go from pillar to post to get the provident fund, gratuity, and the full and final compensation. He still has not been able to get that amount from the company. When I called the human resources department, they abused me,” Ajay alleged.

Ajay is among the 2,000 disgruntled former employees of Byju’s who have joined hands to fight for their rights. Next week, several among them, who are based in various parts of the country, including in New Delhi, are planning to take their former employer to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru for the payment of their dues.

“We have already hired a lawyer to fight our case at the NCLT and the total claim amount is over Rs 1 crore, which is the threshold required to file the case,” said Bharat (name changed), a former teacher at Byju’s.

Bharat said many of them are afraid to participate in a legal battle with Byju’s as they fear it would negatively impact their careers.

Byju’s is facing multiple challenges, including a cash crunch, delays in financial reporting, and legal disputes with lenders and investors.

Overseas, Riju Ravindran, a director of Byju’s parent company, Think & Learn Pvt, faces financial penalties for defying a US judge’s order to find out where the firm hid $533 million that disgruntled lenders said should be rightfully theirs.

Riju, the brother of company founder Byju Raveendran, not only failed to make a serious effort to find out what happened to the money but deceived the court, US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey said, during a hearing on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware.

The missing cash is part of the dispute between Byju’s and an ad hoc group of lenders (the Ad Hoc Group), which lent $1.2 billion as term loans (Term Loans) to the company.

“Today’s ruling validates what we have known all along: Riju Ravindran, his brother and co-founder, Byju Raveendran, and their conspirators fraudulently transferred $533 million in loan proceeds for no legitimate purpose other than to hide the money from the lenders to whom it is rightfully owed. With William Morton and now Riju (Ravindran) found in contempt, the walls are closing in around Byju and his house of cards. We will continue to take all necessary legal actions to recover the stolen funds,” said the lender group on Wednesday.

Facing bumpy road

Riju Ravindran faces penalties for defying a US judge’s order to find out where the firm hid $533 million that lenders said should go to them

US bankruptcy judge said during a hearing that Riju not only failed to make a serious effort to find out what happened to the money but also deceived the court 

The missing cash is part of the dispute between Byju’s and an ad hoc group of lenders