Nayara taps Indian IT firm Rediff.com after Microsoft suspends service

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Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy, recently sanctioned by the European Union, has turned to domestic firm Rediff.com after the US tech giant Microsoft suspended IT services, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Nayara, which has condemned the sanctions, said on Monday it had filed a case against Microsoft in the Delhi High Court over its withdrawal of services.

Nayara, a major buyer of Russian oil that is 49 per cent owned by Russian oil major Rosneft, has struggled with disruptions since coming under European Union sanctions this month targeting Russia over its war in Ukraine, including trimming refinery runs.

Sources told Reuters that since last Tuesday, Microsoft had halted services for Nayara, and that employees' Outlook email and Teams messaging accounts had not been working.

The Rediff.com service can facilitate communications among Nayara employees but cannot retrieve data and previous emails stored on Microsoft's cloud, sources said.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to media.

Nayara and Rediff did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mumbai-based Rediff offers online consumer services and also provides cloud-based email services for businesses.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Additional reporting by Munsif Vengatti in Bangalore; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Kevin Liffey)