Govt expedites inspection of Byju’s books

The corporate affairs ministry has asked its field officers to expedite the inspection of the books of Byju’s and submit the report, a senior official said on Monday as trouble continues to brew at the edtech firm.

Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

The ministry, which is implementing the companies law, will decide the further course of action after receiving the report from its regional office.

In July 2023, the ministry had asked the office of the regional director in Hyderabad to conduct an inspection of the company Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, which is registered in Bengaluru.

Think & Learn Pvt Ltd operates under the brand Byju’s.

On Monday, the senior official said the ministry has sought to expedite the inspection and submission of the report with respect to Byju’s.

Specific details about the inspection could not be immediately ascertained.

Last year, the ministry ordered the inspection in the wake of various developments at that time at the edtech company, including its inability to finalise the statements and resignation of auditor.

A Byju’s spokesperson said the inspection is ongoing and the company has received multiple communications requesting information and documents from time to time.

“It has cooperated completely and responded with all necessary responses along with documents to the MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs).

“The company also apprised them of the corporate governance measures implemented, including the constitution of the advisory council.

“All directions of the MCA have also been complied with,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is also looking into the financial disclosures made by the edtech firm for certain financial years.

ICAI president Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, last week, said the case is under process.

According to Byju’s spokesperson, the company has also closed its financials for FY 2022 and has effected the necessary filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

“Given all of the above, the company is also hoping for an expedited closure of the matter,” the spokesperson added.

On February 23, shareholders of Byju’s voted unanimously for removing founder CEO Byju Raveendran and his family members from the board over alleged “mismanagement and failures” at what was once India’s hottest tech startup.

However, the company had called the voting done in absence of founders as invalid and ineffective.

Raveendran, his wife and brother — the only three members on the company board as of now — stayed away from the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by a group of six investors, who collectively hold more than 32 per cent in Think & Learn.

At the end, more than 60 per cent of the shareholders voted in favour of all the seven resolutions, which included removing the current management, reconfiguration of the board and a third party forensic investigation into acquisitions done by the company, sources close to the investors had said.

However, sources close to Byju’s had put the number at 47 per cent.