More Trouble for Byju's, Tax Department Seeks $101 Million in Unpaid Dues

Bengaluru: Trouble continues to mount for education-technology company Byju's as the Indian tax department is seeking dues of $101 million from the company that was once one of India's biggest startups, as per a report accessed by news agency Reuters.

Backed by General Atlantic, the education company was valued at $22 billion in 2022 but has seen its fortunes dwindle following many regulatory issues and a recent dispute with the US lenders who are demanding $1 billion in unpaid dues, triggering the company's insolvency that led to an assets freeze.

The company is being run by the court-appointed resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava who is inviting lenders, employees, vendors and the government to claim unpaid dues.

India's Department of Revenue has filed a claim worth $18.7 million while the tax department of the state of Karnataka, where Byju is based, is seeking $82.3 million, according to documents on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India website.

Reuters is the first to report the demand numbers, which reveal how much New Delhi believes Byju owes it, and come after months of complaints by the company's employees that their salaries and mandatory tax deposits to the government have been delayed or missed.

The claim document described the outstanding amounts as "statutory dues", without elaborating.

Byju and Srivastava did not respond to Reuters queries.

Overall, claims worth over $1.5 billion from 1,887 creditors have been made so far, with most of them still under review, other claim documents showed.

Byju's, which operates in more than 21 countries, became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering online education courses. It has around 27,000 employees, including 16,000 teachers.

Its insolvency threatens to be the biggest upset in a celebrated startup sector, unleashing a long battle by thousands of panic-stricken employees to recover dues and protect their careers.