Quick Take
- Byju’s RP has moved the NCLT against Google LLC and Google India in a data access dispute.
- The plea, filed under Section 60(5) of the IBC, seeks tribunal directions over Think and Learn cloud data.
- It mirrors an earlier fight with AWS India, which the same Bengaluru bench dismissed on May 2, 2025.
In This Article
Byju’s RP has moved the NCLT against Google LLC and Google India before the Bengaluru bench over access to Think and Learn‘s cloud data and digital services. The Byju’s RP filed the plea under Section 60(5) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the section that lets the tribunal hear disputes tied to a company under insolvency.
A resolution professional (RP) is the officer who runs a company during insolvency. The Byju’s RP wants tribunal directions so he can control the company’s digital records, preserve data, and check its business. Google LLC and Google India are named as respondents. The matter was first listed before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT, the court for company insolvency) this week.
StartupFeed Insight
This case is less about Google and more about a hard truth of modern insolvency: a company’s real value now sits inside cloud accounts an RP does not control. When services get suspended over unpaid dues, the Byju’s RP is locked out of the very records needed to run the CIRP. Founders, cloud vendors, and lenders should all watch closely, because the tribunal’s view on who owns login credentials will set a template for every asset-light startup insolvency to come. StartupFeed expects the NCLT to push both sides toward a payment-for-access settlement before the next Think and Learn bidding hearing on August 31, 2026. By Avinash.
Case Snapshot: The Google NCLT Plea
The Byju’s RP has filed a Section 60(5) petition seeking tribunal directions against Google over Think and Learn’s data. The table below sets out the key facts confirmed so far.
| Detail | Particulars | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | RP of Think and Learn Pvt Ltd | Byju’s parent company |
| Respondents | Google LLC and Google India | Cloud and digital services |
| Legal Provision | Section 60(5), IBC 2016 | Tribunal’s residuary powers |
| Relief Sought | Access to data and services | Preserve and control records |
| Bench | NCLT, Bengaluru | First listed this week |
| Trigger Claim | Rs 158.90 Cr (BCCI dues) | Insolvency began July 2024 |
The most striking point is the pattern. This is the second time the Byju’s RP has gone to court because a global cloud provider suspended Think and Learn’s account, cutting off access to the records he is legally bound to preserve.
About Think and Learn
Think and Learn Pvt Ltd is the parent company of Byju’s, the edtech firm founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath in Bengaluru. It sold app-based learning to school students and once counted a $22 Bn (Rs 21,239 Cr) valuation. The NCLT admitted it into insolvency in July 2024. Its lenders are led by GLAS Trust Company LLC, the US agent for a $1.2 Bn term loan.
Why did Byju’s RP drag Google to the tribunal?
The Byju’s RP needs Google’s data to take control of Think and Learn’s digital records and preserve them for the insolvency. Access to these accounts, held through Google’s services including Google Cloud, would let him examine contracts, operations, and technology systems. Without it, he cannot fully assess the business or run the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP, the formal debt-resolution process).
The resolution professional told the tribunal he was unable to inspect the account or verify its usage and invoices, according to the case record.
The Byju’s RP also flagged that some services billed to Think and Learn may have been used by third parties. That concern, if proven, changes how the invoices should be treated inside the insolvency. Queries sent to Google had not drawn a response by press time, per the source report.
How does this compare to the AWS fight?
The Google plea closely tracks an earlier battle with Amazon Web Services (AWS) India, which the same bench has already ruled on. AWS India had provided Think and Learn with cloud storage, databases, and analytics, and the company’s main account had 51 linked accounts, according to an earlier NCLT order.
| Dimension | Google case | AWS case |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Google Cloud, digital services | Storage, databases, analytics |
| Status | First listed this week | Dismissed May 2, 2025 |
| Dues in dispute | Not yet disclosed | Rs 39.49 Cr |
In the AWS matter, the provider suspended the account in April 2025 after dues went unpaid, then sought Rs 39.49 Cr for services supplied during the insolvency period. The NCLT dismissed the Byju’s RP plea and directed him to place eligible invoices before the creditors’ committee for priority payment as insolvency-process costs. You can track every order in the case on the IBBI corporate process record for Think and Learn. The key difference this time: the Google case opens a second cloud front while the first one is still unresolved.
What’s Next
The Bengaluru bench will now decide whether it can direct Google to restore access, or whether, as with AWS, the fight really turns on unpaid dues. A hearing on the wider insolvency is set for August 31, 2026, when the tribunal takes up the founders’ challenge to the GLAS claim. Will the Google dispute be settled with a cheque, or a court order? The answer will shape how India treats cloud data in every future startup insolvency.
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Written by Avinash. Have a tip? Write to us at editorial@startupfeed.in.
