The Indian government asks Citigroup and HSBC to freeze ByteDance’s bank account

The Indian government recently issued instructions requiring Citibank and HSBC to freeze the bank accounts of ByteDance. The reason for the freezing was suspected of tax evasion.

The bank account related to the Bytedance tax identification number was also frozen. It is reported that there are approximately US$10 million in deposits in the frozen Bytedance account.

ByteDance subsequently filed a lawsuit in the local court accusing the Indian government of abusing legal procedures. Although the account balance is small, it will cause difficulties in paying wages and paying taxes.

It is reported that the case will soon be heard in the High Court of Mumbai, India, but in view of the fact that the details of the lawsuit have not yet been announced, the source is unwilling to disclose more content.

The parent company of the ByteDance unit in India is TikTok Pte Ltd, a company established by ByteDance in Singapore. There are advertising transactions between the subsidiary and the parent company.

The Indian government gave the reason that the online advertising transaction between the company and its parent company was suspected of tax evasion, so it issued an order requiring the bank to freeze the relevant accounts.

After being frozen, the ByteDance unit in India began to communicate with the Indian government. The company stated that there is no so-called tax evasion problem.

However, the communication seems to be ineffective, so the ByteDance unit in India can only choose to file a lawsuit. The company accuses the Indian government of abusing the law and causing difficulties in the company’s operations.

Tiktok was previously blocked by the Indian government. In fact, the entire business of Bytedance India has stalled, but a small number of employees are still retained.

Via: India.com