The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in New Delhi issued a notice to the troubled coaching institute FIITJEE today, Friday, May 16, in response to a corporate bankruptcy petition submitted by its former employee Vinod Kumar Agarwal, who claimed unpaid dues totalling over Rs 2.6 crore.
A bench of NCLT members, including Judicial Member Mahendra Khandelwal and Technical Member Subrata Kumar Dash, heard the case and directed FIITJEE to file a response. The matter has been scheduled for a subsequent hearing on July 10, 2025.
Agarwal, a senior executive at FIITJEE, has filed an operational creditor petition with the tribunal under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of 2016.
He alleges that, despite repeated requests, the corporation neglected to pay his dues for fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25. He was compelled to file the plea as a result, Bar and Bench reports.
FIITJEE stated that Agarwal was a Key Managerial Personnel (KMP), but he refuted this in the NCLT.
The tribunal is now anticipated to investigate whether there was a prior conflict between FIITJEE and Agarwal in order to determine the plea's maintainability.
FIITJEE, founded in 1992, has been a pioneer in India's competitive test tutoring arena. It is well recognised for preparing students for the Indian Institute of Technology - Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE) and other engineering entrance exams.
For years, it held a sizable market position in offline exam preparation, operating through a network of locations around the country.
In recent years, however, FIITJEE has faced a variety of financial and operational issues.
The pandemic had a tremendous impact on the classroom-based coaching model. Although FIITJEE sought to migrate online, it fell behind newer, tech-first competitors such as BYJU'S, Unacademy, and Vedantu, which swiftly expanded their digital offerings.
Students increasingly preferred online, flexible, and frequently more affordable options, resulting in a drop in enrollment and revenue for conventional players such as FIITJEE.
According to reports from recent years, operational costs have risen, along with personnel departures and restructuring measures, including the closure or downsizing of some centres. Former employees have also complained about delayed salaries and unpaid dues.
