Vivo says cannot pay salaries, asks Delhi HC to lift bank account freeze
Premium- The filing, submitted by Vivo India to the Delhi High Court, said the company would not be able to pay statutory dues and salaries due to the account block
The Indian arm of Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has approached a Delhi court, seeking to quash the Enforcement Directorate's decision to freeze its bank accounts, arguing the move was "bad in law" and will harm the company's business operations, a court filing shows.
The filing, submitted by Vivo India to the Delhi High Court, said the company would not be able to pay statutory dues and salaries due to the account block.
Meanwhile, the Delhi HC has directed the ED to decide on Vivo's representation seeking permission to operate its frozen bank accounts by Wednesday. The court has also asked ED to seek instructions on Vivo's plea challenging freezing of its nine bank accounts.
The Indian financial crime agency on Thursday said it had blocked 119 bank accounts linked to Vivo's India business and its associates that were holding 4.65 billion rupees, as part of a probe into alleged money laundering by the smartphone maker.
A whopping ₹62,476 crore has been "illegally" transferred by smartphone maker Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India, the ED said, as it claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.
This money is almost half of Vivo's turnover of ₹1,25,185 crore, it said without stating the time period of the transaction.
Vivo has said that it was cooperating with authorities and was committed to fully complying with Indian laws.
Vivo's court filing listed 10 of its bank accounts as affected by the decision. The company said it needed to make monthly payments of 28.26 billion rupees.
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With agency inputs