Byju’s Advisory Council Update, Mohandas Pai, Rajnish Kumar Stepping Down

The parent business Think and Learn Pvt Ltd and its two advisory board members, Rajnish Kumar and Mohandas Pai, have decided not to renew their contract this year, as per a statement issued by Byju’s on May 19.

This occurs while the business is engaged in multiple court cases before the National Company Law Tribunal against its stakeholders. Byju’s and the two members of the advisory board have a contract that ends at the end of June.

“Our engagement with the company as advisors was always on a fixed term basis for a year. Based on our discussions with the founders, it was mutually decided that the tenure of the advisory council should not be extended.

Though the formal engagement concludes, the founders and the company can always approach us for any advice. We wish the founders and the company the very best for the future,” said Kumar and Pai, in a joint statement.

The company acknowledged in a statement how much it appreciates their partnership and is appreciative of all of their efforts in supporting the business during trying times.

Indeed, in July of last year, the firm appointed Pai, the chairman of Mastercard India, Kumar and one of its original supporters through Aarin Capital, to its board advisory committee for the purpose of advising and counselling Byju Raveendran, CEO of Byju’s, on important issues.

“Rajnish Kumar and Mohandas Pai have provided invaluable support in the past year. The ongoing litigation by a few foreign investors have delayed our plans but their advice will be relied upon in the ongoing rebuild which I am personally leading,” Byju Raveendran says, founder and CEO, Think & Learn Pvt Ltd.

Related: Byju’s CEO Byju Raveendran’s Wealth Drops to Amidst of Crisis

The incident happens when Byju’s, the CEO and founder of the company, is extremely short on funds as a result of Byju Raveendran taking on more personal debt to pay employees.

As instructed by the NCLT, the money received from the recently finished rights issue is being held in an escrow account until the aforementioned lawsuit is resolved. For payment, at least seven vendors have filed lawsuits against Byju’s at NCLT.

Additionally, the business has started to fire workers over the phone, terminating them without offering them a performance improvement plan (PIP) or a notice period. Over 10,000 workers have been let go by Byju’s in the past 12 months as the company has struggled with dwindling venture capital investment and a decreasing market for online learning services. Members of its investor board have now departed as well, citing disagreements with Raveendran.

Since then, the business has made an effort to address a few of the issues. Ranjan Pai, an early investor, contributed the funds. It established an advisory council including of seasoned professionals like Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar, who intend to resign immediately upon the expiration of their one-year term. Arjun Mohan, who was also promoted to CEO by the company, recently made the decision to resign from the role. Additionally, discussions are underway to sell off assets like Great Learning and Epic.

Byju’s needs to tread a path with caution amidst an environment in which the investor’s confidence is at the lowest, senior executives are leaving the company, financials are struck by bad economic decisions. On top of that, the exit of Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar will further add fuel to the fire that has been jolting the company.