Troubled edtech major Byju’s, along with some former employees, were summoned by the Karnataka government to participate in a conciliation meeting, on Friday. This development follows complaints from former staff members regarding unpaid dues.

The Karnataka labour department received numerous emails from ex-employees alleging delays in receiving their full and final settlements post-termination. Consequently, a notice was issued instructing both the company and the concerned employees to attend a meeting to address the grievances. Failure to comply could result in legal action, as stated in the notice issued in Kannada.

A senior official from the labour department confirmed receiving around 20-30 complaints primarily related to delayed final settlements. A meeting was held on Friday, and further ones have been planned for subsequent dates, with some attendees joining in person and others participating online. Notices have been sent to Think and Learn Private Limited, Byju’s parent company, as part of the reconciliation process between the parties involved.

Sources close to the company confirmed that an HR executive from the company, and a few former employees attended the meeting on Friday, without divulging into details on the proceedings.

“I was forced to exit the company 4 months ago, and still haven’t received my full and final settlement. Despite reaching out to the HR multiple times, we haven’t received any confirmation on when the dues would be cleared. Tentatively we have been told that the company would clear the dues by the end of April. This has forced us to take legal advice to get the matter resolved,” said a former employee who has served as a Senior BDA for over 2.5 years at the company. The company had previously postponed the payment of full settlements from September to November, leaving a significant number of former employees awaiting their dues.

Byju’s did not immediately respond to a request seeking clarity on the matter.

Meanwhile, the company continues to be under a severe liquidity crunch, that adds to the multiple regulatory proceedings by the BCCI, a group of foreign lenders, and France-based vendor Teleperformance for insolvency at the NCLT, apart from the pending dues to employees including full and final settlements, PF, and TDS, all adding to its outstanding liabilities. The company has total liabilities of $120 million, according to sources close to the company.

However, the company claims to have brought down the monthly burn rate of its core business to Rs 50 crore and aims to achieve operational break-even in the next 2-3 months. It also plans to reconstitute the board after completing its pending FY23 audit.