BCCI claim BYJU's defaulted on Rs 158 crore payment, NCLT issues notice

In a sensational turn of events, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is understood to have claimed that ed-tech company BYJU’s has defaulted on payment of Rs 158 crore. As per news agency PTI, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had sent a notice to Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, which offers online educational services under the name of BYJU’s, after a petition was filed by the BCCI.

The report went on to state that acknowledging BCCI's petition, a two-member Bengaluru-based bench of the NCLT issued notice to Think & Learn earlier this month on 28 November.

“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,” the notice issued by NCLT read.

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The NCLT order also added, "two weeks is granted to the Respondent (Byju's) to file a reply and one week thereafter is granted to the Applicant (BCCI) to file rejoinder, if any, after duly serving the copy on the other side."

BCCI’s latest move comes months after BYJU’s had revealed that in a bid to look for profitability, the Indian ed-tech startup was trying to explore a way to end sponsorship of the Indian cricket team jersey. BYJU’s had eventually left following the completion of the last financial cycle.

Amid the tussle with BCCI, BYJU’s currently find themselves in hot water after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reportedly served a show-cause notice to the company because of alleged breaches of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Earlier this year in June, PTI reported that fantasy sports platform Dream11 is set to replace BYJU's as the principal jersey sponsor of the Indian cricket teams. The deal had reportedly cost the company around Rs 358 crore.

The Indian cricket team’s association with BYJU’s dates back to 2019. The BCCI had confirmed back in July 2019 that the Indian players are set to don a new brand name on their jerseys from September with Chinese mobile manufacturer Oppo handing over the sponsorship rights to BYJU’s.