All is not well for Edtech firm Byju's as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made a fresh crackdown on the CEO Byju Raveendran. The ED has requested the Bureau of Immigration to issue a look-out-circular (LOC) against Byju Raveendran. ED wants Byju's CEO Raveendran not to leave the country without informing the investigative officer in advance. Notably, ED has already issued a showcase notice to the edtech company. For the unversed, in November 2023, ED had issued showcause notices to Think & Learn Private Limited, the parent company of Byju’s, and Raveendran on the basis of a complaint filed against alleged contraventions of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to the tune of Rs 9,362.35 crore.
Notably, ED came into action against Byju's after it reportedly received multiple complaints regarding foreign investments received by Think and Learn Private Ltd and the business conduct of the firm. A ED Spokesperson was quoted by a news portal saying, "The company was also stated to have made significant foreign remittances outside India and investments abroad, which were allegedly in contravention of the provisions of FEMA, 1999, and caused loss of revenue to the Central government."
The Spokesperson further informed that Think & Learn Private Limited and Raveendran had contravened the provisions of FEMA by failing to submit documents of imports against advance remittances made outside India, 'by failing to realise the proceeds of exports made outside India, by delayed filing of documents against the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received into the company, by failing to file documents against the remittances made by the company outside India and by failing to allot shares against FDI received into the company.'
Notably, Byjus is facing a funds crunch issue as well. The Company has also fired its thousands of employees. Not only this, the Edtech firm has been accused of malpractices by its sales team. For instance, the sales team allegedly lured parents into buying Byju's courses for their children and did not deliver what it promised.