Byju's, the embattled ed-tech giant, faced a penalty of Rs 20,000 from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru on April 24 for failing to respond to an insolvency petition filed by Surfer Technology, despite multiple opportunities to do so.
The NCLT bench informed Byju's legal representatives that the tribunal would only entertain their response upon payment of the imposed cost. Byju's had been served notice regarding Surfer's plea in February, and despite two extensions granted for filing a response, they failed to comply, leading to the penalty.
Initially considering closing Byju's opportunity to respond, the tribunal relented but insisted on the penalty before allowing them to proceed. The NCLT questioned the delay, asking, "What were you doing for a month or 20 days?" Byju's lawyers cited difficulties in obtaining instructions from the company, promising a response within three days, but the tribunal remained unconvinced, as reported by Money Control.
Surfer Technology alleged that Byju's owed them Rs 2.3 crore, constituting admitted debt. They claimed to have provided leads to Byju's, which were subsequently authorized by the ed-tech firm. Surfer's petition, categorized as that of an operational creditor under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), was lodged on January 9 and registered on February 1.
This marks the fourth entity to initiate proceedings against Byju's, following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Teleperfomance Business Services from France, and its lenders. Under the IBC, creditors are classified into operational creditors (OCs) and financial creditors (FCs), with OCs providing goods and services to a business without receiving payment.