DHFL defaults on NCD repayments of Rs 50 crore; says can’t pay due to moratorium restrictions

PTI, Jul 5, 2020, 4:07 PM IST

New Delhi: DHFL has defaulted on payment of Rs 50 crore on bonds, saying the company is not in a position to make payments to the lenders as it is under moratorium since last November.

The payment has not been made by the company to the respective investors of the secured NCDs (non-convertible debentures) for a principal amount of Rs 50 crore due on July 3, 2020, DHFL said in a regulatory filing.

The company is currently under moratorium under the Code (IBC) since November 29, 2019 and hence, it is not in a position to make payment of interest or principal to any of the lenders of the company, including the NCDs holders, Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd (DHFL) said.

The payments to the lenders or NCD holders remain in abeyance and will be subject to the outcome of the CIRP process, it added.

The board of the crisis-ridden non-banking financial company (NBFC) was superseded by the Reserve Bank on November 20, 2019 due to various financial irregularities and mismanagement and the central bank appointed an administrator for the firm.

Further, RBI on November 22 constituted a 3-member advisory committee to assist the administrator of the company to discharge his duties.

On November 29, 2019 the RBI filed an application for initiating CIRP against DHFL under the IBC 2016 read with rules of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Insolvency and Liquidation Proceedings of Financial Service, Providers and Application to Adjudication of Authority) Rules, 2019.

Subsequently, on December 3, 2019 the National Company Law Tribunal bench at Mumbai commenced the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against the company, and appointed the administrator to perform all the function of resolution professional to complete the process, DHFL said.

The company is alleged to be involved in various corruption charges and has bank loan outstanding of over Rs 97,000 crore. It has been alleged that it siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans.

DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, under arrest, are facing probe from key investigating agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and were sent to judicial custody in May this year by a special court in Mumbai.