Byju's likely to miss March 10 salary deadline for 20,000 employees as funds remain stuck

New Delhi: Embattled edtech company Byju's is likely to miss the March 10 deadline to pay salaries for the month of February to its more than 20,000 employees as funds raised via its rights issue remain stuck.

The Bengaluru bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had directed Byju’s that the proceeds from the rights issue (which is about $250-$300 million) is to be kept in a separate account till the disposal of the case with investors.

According to sources, the company appears not in a position to pay the salaries due to the status quo, as banks also remain closed over the weekend.

The company did not immediately comment on the development.

Earlier this month, the company’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran told employees that “We are striving to ensure that your salaries are paid by March 10. We shall make these payments the moment we are permitted to do so as per law.”

In a letter to the staff, Raveendran said that the rights issue has been successfully closed.

"However, I regret to inform you that we will still be unable to process your salaries. Last month, we faced challenges due to a lack of capital, and now we are experiencing a delay despite having funds," he told more than 20,000 employees.

Raveendran further said that a select few investors have "stooped to a heartless level, ensuring that we are unable to utilise the funds raised to pay your hard-earned salaries".

Meanwhile, the edtech company said that no funds have been siphoned off and around $533 million are currently in a 100 per cent non-US subsidiary of the company.