New day, new signs of trouble for the Indian edtech decacorn Byju’s. A report by Moneycontrol has stated that the edtech giant has made delays in rolling out the provident fund (PF) payments of employees for almost every month since October 2022. Citing data from EPFO, the report has claimed that the edtech giant has been processing the PF contribution with a lag of three to four months. 

Claiming this as a violation of India’s PF Act, the report has noted that the lag can draw actions from EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation). 

When asked, Byju’s denied to answer Moneycontrol’s queries. 

Since 2022, Byju’s has been in the news for the wrong reasons. It started with its much-delayed audit report for the financial year (FY) 2021, which revealed a net loss of Rs 4,588 crore. A few days after the report, the company announced a five per cent rationalisation of its 50,000-strong employee bandwidth, which resulted in the termination of nearly 2,500 employees. In December 2022, Raveendran was summoned by the National Commission For The Protection Of Child Rights (NCPCR) over the malpractices conducted by the company’s sales team. Later on, the body accused the company of threatening children and their parents to ruin their future if they do not buy courses from the company. 

DELOITTE HASKINS AND Sells recently stepped down as the auditor of the global edtech enterprise. The firm raised its fingers towards the long delay in the company’s financial statement for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2022. Byju’s later announced that it has appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as the new statutory auditors. 

"We have not been able to comment on the audit as of date. As a result, there will be a significant impact on our ability to plan, design, perform, and complete the audit in accordance with the applicable auditing standards. In view of the aforesaid, we are tendering our resignation as statutory auditors of the company with immediate effect," Deloitte Haskins & Sells said in a letter to Byju’s board.