MUMBAI: A special bench of the Bengaluru National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has issued a notice to Flipkart, seeking its response to an insolvency appeal filed by Applabs Media Pvt Ltd against the e-commerce company over alleged unpaid dues of almost ₹1.7 crore.
A two-judge bench of Justice Mahendra Khandelwal and Justice Radhakrishna Sreepada heard the petitioner who filed his appeal under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
“Let notice be issued to the corporate debtor for filing its response and appearance. Notice be issued by all means and proof of service be filed,” the tribunal said. The next hearing is scheduled for 14 July.
Applabs Media, an AI-driven ad-tech company, alleged that Flipkart did not pay it about ₹1.7 crore under a marketing agreement dated 5 December 2019. The company provided cost-per-transaction advertising campaigns on Flipkart’s mobile application and claimed it raised three invoices under the agreement, which were payable within 45 days.
Counsel for Applabs said Flipkart acknowledged the payment obligations in an email on 15 May 2023.
“… we got confirmation from the finance team that payment will be received as soon as possible,” the counsel said, referring to Flipkart’s email response.
Corporate debtors
The petition is a new plea filed under Section 9 of the IBC, which empowers operational creditors such as vendors, suppliers and employees to initiate the corporate insolvency resolution process against a defaulting corporate debtor before the NCLT.
Flipkart did not respond to Mint’s queries seeking comment on the matter.
This is the second such case filed against Flipkart. In March, the Bengaluru bench of the NCLT issued a notice to Flipkart under Section 9 of the IBC on a petition filed by Netambit Value First Services Pvt Ltd, which alleged a default of ₹4.37 crore linked to affiliate marketing services provided to the company. The matter is still being heard.