India’s government has ordered an inspection into the finances and accounting practices of education-technology giant Byju’s, which has come under radar post the resignation of its auditor and three other board members last month, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has sought a report in six weeks, as per people mentioned above, who wishes to stay anonymous. The inspection follows an internal assessment of the company’s state of affairs. Later, based on the findings in the investigation, the government shall decide if the case is to be escalated to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.
The inspection would act as a new headache for Byju’s as it restarts negotiations to restructure its $1.2 billion term loan after breaching certain terms of its debt agreement. The startup, which is currently valued at $22 billion is looking forward to raise another billion dollars to come over their financial difficulties, due to which they had to lay over around 1,000 employees.
Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned as Byju’s auditor last month, which led to delay in submitting financial statements.
Byju’s’ representative has shared that the company has not yet received any communication from the MCA. The text message also added that the company will fully cooperate if any routine inspection takes place.