New Delhi (India), 29th April 2023: On April 29, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) searched the Bengaluru offices of Think & Learn Private Limited, which operates the online private education portal Byju’s.
Under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the ED raided two business premises associated with the company and one residential property associated with Byju’s founder Raveendran Byju in Bengaluru.
According to an ED statement, the company has received ₹28,000 crore in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and the corporation has received ₹9,754 crore in overseas direct investment.
The ED said in a statement, “The search revealed that the company received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of ₹28,000 crore from 2011 to 2023. Further, the company has remitted ₹9,754 crore to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period, in the name of overseas direct investment. The company has booked around ₹944 crore as advertisement and marketing expenses, which included amounts remitted to foreign jurisdictions.”
They further added, “The company has not prepared its financial statements since the financial year 2020-21 and has not got the accounts audited, which is mandatory. Hence, the genuineness of the figures provided by the company are being cross-examined from the banks.”
The investigation of the site was launched in response to complaints from a variety of individuals. Despite the fact that the ED summoned the company’s founder and CEO Raveendran Byju several times, ‘he always remained evasive and never appeared during the examination’.
In response to the raid, Byju’s legal team stated that they had been totally honest with the police and had provided all of the needed information.
The company said in a statement, “We have nothing but the utmost confidence in the integrity of our operations, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethics. We will continue to work closely with the authorities to ensure that they have all the information they need, and we are confident that this matter will be resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner.”
