NCLT issues notice to Byju's on insolvency plea filed by US lenders

Byju's receives fourth notice from NCLT

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on February 28 issued a notice  to ed tech company Byju's in a plea filed by the US-based non-bank loan agency Glas Trust Company LLC to admit the company to insolvency resolution process.

The NCLT directed Byju's to file a response to the plea and listed the case for hearing in April 2024.

Glas trust represents over 100 lenders who had loaned money to Byju's' US entity, Byju's Alpha Inc, which is currently undergoing voluntary bankruptcy process at a court in Delaware. According to senior advocate Uday Holla, who appeared for Glas trust, Think and Learn, the Indian entity of Byju's had stood guarantee to the $ 1.2-billion loan or Rs 8,000 crore.

Holla submitted that when the lenders invoked the guarantee and asked it to pay up the money, the company neither responded to the notices, nor paid any money. The lawyer further argued that Glas Trust has been authorised by the lenders to recover the loan, and hence it has filed the plea.

Holla, who had to wade through over 37 volumes of documents filed in the plea, submitted that non-response by Byju's prompted them to file this plea.

The NCLT then issued the notice to Byju's. This is the fourth insolvency plea filed against the company in less than six months. Though the plea was filed on January 22 it was registered on the file of NCLT on February 21.

The NCLT also took up BCCI's insolvency plea against Byju's today. After hearing BCCI's arguments for a brief while, the court adjourned it to March 12 for an elaborate hearing.

Other insolvency pleas against Byju's

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), France-based Teleperformance Business Services, and digital marketing firm Surfer Technologies have filed separate insolvency pleas against Byju's. The NCLT has issued notice in all the insolvency petitions filed against the ed tech giant.

BCCI's plea came up for hearing for the first time in November 2023, while the other pleas came up for hearing in February 2024. While BCCI has contended that Byju's owes them over Rs 150 crore, Surfer and Teleperformance have contended that they had Rs 4 crore and Rs 2.3 crore dues from Byju's.

Surfer's and Teleperformance's plea is expected to come up for hearing in March 2024.