All India Jet Airways Officers and Staff Association (AIJOSA) on Wednesday sent a notice to the airline’s erstwhile resolution professional, Jalan-Kalrock Consortium and Committee of Creditor seeking payment of PF and gratuity as ordered by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) before selling assets.
The employees’ association has warned of legal action if the defunct airline fails to comply with the NCLAT order.
Meanwhile, Jet Airways Cabin Crew Association has sent another notice to Jalan-Kalrock on non-payment of employee/workmen dues amounting to Rs 113 crore. The association has warned the consortium of legal action if Rs 113 crore is not paid in four-day notice after receiving notice.
The development comes days after a report claimed the airline was considering selling 11 aircraft as frustration grew among lenders who are effectively forcing it into liquidation while the resolution process remains slow. The once-storied Jet Airways shuttered operations in April 2019. A standoff over the completion of the resolution process, the airline has sent 60 percent of its employees, including senior management, on
leave without pay (LWP) for three months starting December 1.
The same day, the winning bidder JKC consortium said it might take "difficult" near-term decisions to manage cashflows.
The consortium's resolution plan was approved under the insolvency process by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in June last year. However, due to various issues, the airline is yet to restart operations.
The consortium had told NCLAT that the effective date for its resolution plan would be May 20, 2022, and as per the plan it proposed to pay employees within 175 days, and lenders within 180 days from the effective date.
JKC will get ownership of Jet Airways only after the first tranche of payments to lenders is made. So, if the consortium does not get transfer of ownership, it cannot lease aircraft in the name of Jet Airways.
The recent NCLAT order directed the consortium to pay provident fund and gratuity dues in full for all eligible employees until the commencement of insolvency — that’s till June 2019.
According to sources, this amount works out to over Rs 200 crore. CNBC-TV18 has learnt that the resolution professional has not yet given the company, the final amount payable, and so this has not been paid so far.
However, the JKC has filed an application in NCLAT suggesting it won’t make any additional payment over the Rs 475 crore approved in its resolution plan.
The court, meanwhile, asked erstwhile Resolution Professional Ashish Chhawchharia to compute these payments within a month and communicate the same to the consortium. However, in the application, JKC has appealed to the court to clarify if the winning consortium has been directed to pay these dues.
First Published: Nov 23, 2022 3:22 PM IST
