According to CNBC Report, The second largest airline in India, SpiceJet has not deposited Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) for 18 months in a major default and non-compliance with norms.
The company has also not deposited Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) for employees since FY23. SpiceJet hasn’t cleared payments to various vendors and has been delaying salaries to senior employees by up to three weeks, according to the report.
However, in a statement, the airline said, “The process for depositing TDS has been initiated by the company and Form 16 is being gradually released.”
“There has been certain deferral on discharging of some payments and we hope to deposit a substantial outstanding amount soon,” the airline added.
Yesterday, SpiceJet said in Delhi High Court that it was “struggling to stay afloat” as it was ordered to make a payment to its former owner over money owed.
In 2018, SpiceJet lost an arbitration case arising out of share transfers from former owner Kalanithi Maran to the company’s new management in 2015, making the airline liable to pay $70 million plus interest. Maran later took SpiceJet to court saying he was still owed $48 million.
In a Delhi High Court hearing on Thursday on Maran’s case demanding the dues, SpiceJet said it was struggling financially. “We are struggling to stay afloat,” the airline’s lawyer Amit Sibal told the judge.
The airline offered to deposit Rs 75 crore within 10 days, but the judge ordered the airline to pay Rs 100 crore by September 10 and warned it could consider seizing the company’s assets to recover the dues, if it fails to comply.
