Byju’s ex-staff allege PF unpaid, co says no dues

Bengaluru/ New Delhi: Embattled edtech startup Byju’s is facing fresh trouble, this time from its former employees, who have taken to social media to alleged that their provident fund (PF) dues have not been credited or have been delayed.Some alleged that they haven’t heard from their HR department despite repeated requests for updates. Shivkumari Mishra, who was a product specialist at Byju’s and who now works at edtech firm Anthology, wrote in a LinkedIn post that she has not received her PF since November 2022. “I have been banging my head to all the HR requesting to make it fast because now it is becoming a major issue, all I get to hear is wait for 30 days,” the post says.Another former employee, Aravind Gummadi, said in a LinkedIn post that during his tenure at the company, PF was not credited to the EPFO for five months, although it was debited from his salary. Gummadi said he worked with Byju’s between November 2021 and April 2023, adding that he didn’t receive an update from the HR department despite a lot of follow-up.“I have been waiting for the past five months, and until now, I haven’t received any updates or information about it. As a former employee of your company, I have been expecting a timely and hassle-free retrieval of my PF,” ex-staffer Mahipal Singh Jadon posted on Twitter. Another ex-employee Nilesh tweeted: “PF is the basic thing that needs to be credited every month and now it’s been denied.”When contacted by TOI, a Byju’s spokesperson said in a statement that there are no pending PF payments towards employees. “There are no dues,” it reiterated. During a meeting over the weekend, the startup’s founder Byju Raveendran acknowledged the company’s past mistakes, but assured shareholders that “his learnings far outweigh any missteps”.The meeting came amid problems with lenders, resignation by three nominees of investors as well as Deloitte, the auditor, and series of sackings over the last few months.The company’s management blamed Deloitte for causing delays and told shareholders that processes are being strengthened, amid a flurry of bad news.Raveendran said that the company is looking to enhance its board, including by adding independent directors. “He clarified that although the board members had tendered their resignations, the company had not yet accepted them,” said sources who attended the call with shareholders. The edtech firm aims to close the audit of its FY22 results by the end of September and that of FY23 by the end of December. Byju’s group CFO Ajay Goel told shareholders that the audit for most subsidiaries for FY22 has been completed, sources said.