Embattled edtech firm Byju’s has reached a settlement with France-based Teleperformance Business Services, as reported to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on June 26, marking the second relief for the company in a single day.
The insolvency court requested Teleperformance to file a memo indicating its wish to withdraw the insolvency plea due to the settlement, enabling the closure of the case.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that Indian law enforcement agencies had cleared the struggling online-education startup of financial fraud, although they found certain lapses in corporate governance.
The NCLT had previously urged Byju’s on several occasions to settle with Teleperformance within a week, warning that if the dispute was not resolved, the tribunal would proceed to hear the case on its merits and issue an order accordingly.
On February 7, the NCLT issued a notice to Byju’s regarding the insolvency plea filed by Teleperformance. Byju’s had availed services from outsourcing agencies such as Teleperformance, Cogent E Services, and iEnergizer until mid-2022. These companies provided calling agents to Byju’s, which discontinued services from Teleperformance and Cogent E in a bid to reduce costs amid mounting troubles.
Teleperformance had entered into a service agreement with Byju’s in April 2022, raising over 20 invoices amounting to over Rs 4 crore between March and August 2023, which remained unpaid. Byju’s did not dispute the claims and admitted to default.
Teleperformance stated that Byju’s agreed to pay the amount in three tranches: Rs 1.5 crore in the first tranche, Rs 2 crore in the second, and Rs 2.2 crore in the final tranche.
Other Cases Against Byju’s
While Byju’s has settled with Teleperformance, it is involved in nearly 10 similar proceedings with other operational and financial creditors.
On February 6, the NCLT issued a notice in an insolvency plea filed by digital marketing firm Surfer Technologies against Byju’s. On February 28, Byju’s received another notice regarding a plea filed by US-based non-bank loan agency Glas Trust Company LLC to admit the company to the insolvency resolution process.
