• Notification Date: 28-06-2023
• Notification No: N/A

MCA to Conduct Inspection of Byju's Books

The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) will conduct an inspection of Byju's books in a bid to ascertain any potential corporate governance lapses, an official privy with the matter told ET. 
 
The company, however, said it had not received any communication from MCA about such an inspection. 

"A decision to this effect (on inspection) has been taken. The government treats corporate governance as a serious issue. So, if there is any such issue, it needs to be probed," the official said. 
 
A spokesperson for Byju's said: "Media reports suggesting that MCA has ordered an inspection into Byju's are speculative, and denied by us. We have not received any such correspondence from MCA regarding this, and are not aware of any such inspection." 

An email sent to MCA on the issue remained unanswered till the time of going to the press. 
 
 

The MCA move comes at a time when three board members of Byju's and auditor Deloitte have resigned purportedly due to unhappiness over dispute with lenders and delay in financial results. The three board members include G V Ravishankar of Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus (formerly Naspers). 
 
The edtech major, however, has denied reports of the resignation of the board members, and it has appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as its statutory auditor. Deloitte had flagged the long delay in the filing of Byju's FY22 financial results. 

Section 206(5) and (6) of the Companies Act, 2013 provides for inspection of a company's books. 
 
The government may, "having regard to the circumstances by general or special order, authorise any statutory authority to carry out inspection of books of account of a company or class of companies". 
The inspections are usually carried out by the relevant Registrar of Companies.