Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Bengaluru to initiate corporate insolvency proceedings against Byju’s, for allegedly defaulting on the payment of ₹158 crores excluding TDS.
On November 28th, the Coram, comprising judicial member K Bishwal and technical member Manoj Kumar Dubey, had asked for a response from the EdTech Company. The Tribunal was informed that on January 6, 2023, Byju’s was sent a notice over the payment of ₹158 crores. NCLT issued notice to the respondent and asked them to file its reply within two weeks. The matter will be heard again on December 22.
The sum mentioned by the BCCI pertained to a contract for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team’s uniforms. The complainant and respondent entered into a sponsorship contract initially in 2019, when it took over sponsoring the cricket team’s jerseys from mobile phone manufacturer OPPO.
The parties first signed a sponsorship agreement in 2019 when the respondent replaced mobile phone manufacturer OPPO as the sponsor of the cricket team’s jerseys. The original expiration date of this contract was 2022, but it was later extended to 2023.
Byju’s said at the beginning of this year that it would not extend its sponsorship arrangement with the BCCI, the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) due to numerous other financial difficulties. Byju’s is reportedly negotiating with the BCCI to resolve the bankruptcy matter before the NCLT.