Zomato may face insolvency plea before NCLT

Food delivery aggregator Zomatomay face an insolvency plea as one of its operational creditors has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking restoration of its previous petition.

Nona Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, an operational creditor, has moved NCLT requesting to restore an insolvency plea filed by it earlier against Zomato Ltd under Section 9 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code in 2024.

In 2024, NCLT had dismissed it due to non-prosecution and now Nona Lifestyle has requested to restore its old petition.

It has filed an application under Rule 11 of NCLT Rules, 2016, which provides the tribunal inherent power that can also be used for restoration purposes.

It has requested the Delhi-based NCLT bench "to admit the accompanying application and pass an order for initiating the CIRP against the Corporate Debtor (Zomato) here in under Section 9."

CIRP stands for 'corporate insolvency resolution process'.

The matter was listed on Monday before a two-member bench of the NCLT, comprising members Ashok K Bhardwaj and Reena Sinha Puri, which adjourned the matter to April.

Nona Lifestyle, the petitioner, is an apparel business and has supplied uniforms for its employees and delivery partners, including merchandise for brand activations during the ICC World Cup 2023.

It has claimed default on the part of Zomato, saying it not only delayed the payment but also did not take the complete delivery.

Nona Lifestyle has claimed dues of Rs 1.64 crore, including interest, on Zomato. However, it was denied by the counsel appearing for the food delivery aggregator.

Zomato's counsel opposed the restoration of the plea and said there is a pre-existing dispute.