Byju's owes BCCI ₹86.21 crore in sponsorship agreement; title sponsor Paytm wants to exit

Indian ed-tech firm Byju's reportedly owes Rs. 86.21 crore in unpaid dues to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). According to news agency PTI, the matter was discussed by the BCCI Apex Council's meeting on Thursday. Byju's is the current jersey sponsor of the Indian Men's and Women's cricket teams and had first entered into a partnership with the BCCI in 2019, after the educational company took over the rights from Chinese mobile manufacturer Oppo.

In April this year, Byju's and the BCCI extended their partnership until the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The extension of the agreement was reached after Byju's agreed to give the BCCI a 10 percent increment on their earlier deal. However, it has been learnt that Byju's has not paid Rs. 86.21 crore to the BCCI and risks losing the shirt sponsor rights. It is also being reported that Byju's recently fired hundreds of employees in mass lay-off. 

"As of today, Byju’s owes dues of Rs 86.21 crore to the Board," a BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI. 

A Byju's spokesperson, on the other hand, has told PTI that the extension of the contract with the BCCI has not yet been officially signed and that the payments will happen only after the contract signing. The spokesperson claimed that there are no dues pending from the company's side. 

"We have extended the contract with the BCCI but it is not yet signed. After the contract signing is done, the payments will happen as per the contractual payment terms. So there are no dues pending from our side," Byju's spokesperson told PTI. 

Paytm wants to exit

Meanwhile, fintech firm Paytm has reportedly urged the BCCI to transfer the title rights for all home series to a third party. As per reports, Paytm has requested the BCCI to transfer the home cricket title rights to American multinational Mastercard. Paytm's current contract requires it to pay Rs. 3.80 crore per match to the BCCI for all the home matches. The current contract that runs until 2023 was signed in 2019. 

Image: Twitter/@BCCI