20-F 1 mmyt-20f_20200331.htm 20-F mmyt-20f_20200331.htm

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 20-F

 

(Mark One)

REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(B) OR (G) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

or

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020

or

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from             to             

or

SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of event requiring this shell company report

Commission file number 001-34837

 

MakeMyTrip Limited

(Exact Name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

Not Applicable

 

Mauritius

(Translation of Registrant’s Name Into English)

 

(Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

 

19th Floor, Building No. 5

DLF Cyber City

Gurugram, India, 122002

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Mohit Kabra

Group Chief Financial Officer

19th Floor, Building No. 5

DLF Cyber City

Gurugram, India, 122002

(91-124) 439-5000

groupcfo@go-mmt.com

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

 

Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0005 per share

MMYT

Nasdaq Global Market

(Title of Class)

(Trading Symbol)

(Name of Exchange On Which Registered)

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.

None

(Title of Class)

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.

None

(Title of Class)

 

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the Annual Report.

 

Class

Number of Shares Outstanding as of March 31, 2020

Ordinary shares, $0.0005 par value per share (“ordinary shares”)

63,586,903 shares outstanding

Class B convertible ordinary shares, par value $0.0005 per share (“Class B Shares”)

39,667,911 shares outstanding

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes              No  

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes              No  

Note — Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.

 


 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes              No  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes              No  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer  

Accelerated filer  

Non-accelerated filer  

 

 

Emerging growth company  

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

 

US GAAP  

International Financial Reporting Standards as issued

Other  

 

by the International Accounting Standards Board  

 

If “Other” has been checked in the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.

Item 17              Item 18  

If this is an Annual Report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934).

Yes              No  

(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court:

Yes              No  

 

 

 

 

 


 

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

PAGE

PART I

 

 

 

ITEM  1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

6

 

 

ITEM  2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

6

 

 

ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION

6

 

 

ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

37

 

 

ITEM 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

62

 

 

ITEM  5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

63

 

 

ITEM  6. DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

100

 

 

ITEM  7. MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

114

 

 

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

117

 

 

ITEM 9. THE OFFER AND LISTING

126

 

 

ITEM 10. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

126

 

 

ITEM  11. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

150

 

 

ITEM  12. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES

151

 

 

PART II

 

 

 

ITEM  13. DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES

152

 

 

ITEM 14. MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS

152

 

 

ITEM 15. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

152

 

 

ITEM  16A. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

156

 

 

ITEM 16B. CODE OF ETHICS

156

 

 

ITEM  16C. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

156

 

 

ITEM  16D. EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES

157

 

 

ITEM 16E. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS

157

 

 

ITEM  16F. CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT

157

 

 

ITEM 16G. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

157

 

 

ITEM 16H. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

158

 

 

PART III

 

 

 

ITEM 17. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

159

 

 

ITEM 18. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

159

 

 

ITEM 19. EXHIBITS

159

 

 

SIGNATURES

160

 

 

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

F-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS ANNUAL REPORT

In this Annual Report, we refer to information regarding the travel service industry and our competitors from market research reports, analyst reports and other publicly available sources, including the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Indian governmental regulatory body for civil aviation, or the DGCA, SimilarWeb, App Annie and the McKinsey Global Institute, or McKinsey.

We conduct our business principally through our Indian subsidiaries, MakeMyTrip (India) Private Limited, or MMT India, and Ibibo Group Private Limited, or Ibibo India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ibibo Group Holdings (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, including Ibibo India, the “ibibo Group”), which we acquired from MIH Internet SEA Pte. Ltd., or MIH Internet, on January 31, 2017. Our other key operating subsidiaries include ITC Bangkok Co., Ltd., Thailand, the main operating entity of the group of companies known as the ITC Group; Luxury Tours & Travel Pte Ltd, Singapore, or Luxury Tours; Luxury Tours (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., or Luxury Tours (Malaysia); MakeMyTrip Inc., or MMT USA; Bitla Software Private Limited, or Bitla; and Quest2Travel.com India Private Limited, or Quest2Travel, acquired on April 30, 2019. In this Annual Report, unless otherwise stated or unless the context otherwise requires, references to “we,” “us,” “our,” “our company” or “our group” are to MakeMyTrip Limited and its subsidiaries collectively, and references to “our holding company” are to MakeMyTrip Limited on a standalone basis.

In this Annual Report, references to “US,” the “United States” or “USA” are to the United States of America, its territories and its possessions, references to “India” are to the Republic of India, references to “Colombia” are to the Republic of Colombia, references to “Indonesia” are to the Republic of Indonesia, references to “Mauritius” are to the Republic of Mauritius, references to “Peru” are to the Republic of Peru, references to “Singapore” are to the Republic of Singapore, references to “Malaysia” are to the Federation of Malaysia and references to “Thailand” are to the Kingdom of Thailand. References to “$,” “dollars” or “US dollars” are to the legal currency of the United States and references to “Rs.,” “Rupees” or “Indian Rupees” are to the legal currency of India. In this Annual Report, references to “customers” are to our end customers or travelers and references to “suppliers” are to our travel suppliers.

Solely for the convenience of the reader, this Annual Report contains translations of certain Indian Rupee amounts into US dollars at specified rates. Except as otherwise stated in this Annual Report, all translations from Indian Rupees to US dollars are based on the noon buying rate of Rs. 75.39 per $1.00 in the City of New York for cable transfers of Indian Rupees, as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on March 31, 2020. No representation is made that the Indian Rupee amounts referred to in this Annual Report could have been or could be converted into US dollars at such rates or any other rates. Any discrepancies in any table between totals and sums of the amounts listed are due to rounding.

Unless otherwise indicated, the consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income (loss) and related notes for fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020 and consolidated statement of financial position as of March 31, 2019 and 2020 included elsewhere in this Annual Report have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB. References to a particular “fiscal year” are to our fiscal year ended March 31 of that year. Our fiscal quarters end on June 30, September 30, December 31 and March 31. References to a year other than a “fiscal” year are to the calendar year ended December 31. Our financial and operating results for fiscal year 2017 include the financial and operating results of the ibibo Group for the two months ended March 31, 2017 following the completion of our acquisition of the ibibo Group on January 31, 2017 and for the full year in fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020.

2


 

CERTAIN KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND NON-IFRS MEASURES

We  refer to certain non-IFRS measures in various places within this Annual Report, including “Adjusted Operating Profit (Loss),” “Adjusted Net Profit (Loss),” and “Adjusted Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share”. We also refer to certain key performance indicators within this Annual Report including “Adjusted Margin” and “Adjusted Margin %”.

For a description of the components and calculation of “Adjusted Operating Profit (Loss),” Adjusted Net Profit (Loss),” and “Adjusted Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share” and a reconciliation of these non-IFRS measures to the most directly comparable IFRS measures, see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects — Certain Key Performance Indicators and Non-IFRS Measures” elsewhere in this Annual Report. We believe that our current calculations of Adjusted Operating Profit (Loss), Adjusted Net Profit (Loss) and Adjusted Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share represent a balanced approach to adjusting for the impact of certain discrete, unusual or non-cash items and other items such as customer inducement costs in the nature of customer incentives, customer acquisition costs and loyalty program costs which are useful in measuring our operating results and provide useful information to investors and analysts.

We evaluate our financial performance in each of our reportable segments based on our key performance indicator, Adjusted Margin, a segment profitability measure, which represents IFRS revenue after adding back customer inducement costs in the nature of customer incentives, customer acquisition costs and loyalty program costs which are reported as a reduction of revenue, and deducting the cost of acquisition of services primarily relating to sales to customers where the company acts as the principal. In fiscal year 2019 and previously in fiscal year 2020, we referred to Adjusted Margin as “Adjusted Revenue”. We believe Adjusted Margin is a more accurate representation reflecting the margins in the business. In fiscal year 2018 and earlier years, this segment profitability measure was referred to as Revenue less Service Cost and calculated as revenue as per IFRS to which certain customer inducement costs recorded as a reduction of revenue are added back, and cost for the acquisition of relevant services and products for sale to customers are deducted. Similarly, in fiscal year 2019, we changed our key performance indicator “Net Revenue Margin” to “Adjusted Revenue Margin”, and at the end of fiscal year 2020, we changed the name of this non-IFRS measure from “Adjusted Revenue Margin” to “Adjusted Margin %”. Net Revenue Margin was calculated as Revenue less Service Cost as a percentage of gross bookings and Adjusted Margin % (previously referred to as Adjusted Revenue Margin) is calculated as Adjusted Margin (previously referred to as Adjusted Revenue) as a percentage of gross bookings. The impact of these changes from Revenue less Service Cost to Adjusted Margin and from Net Revenue Margin to Adjusted Margin % on the comparative numbers for the previous years is not material and accordingly, the Adjusted Margin and Adjusted Margin % information for the years ended March 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018 in this Annual Report is our previously reported Revenue less Service Cost and Net Revenue Margin information for such years and have not been adjusted. The presentation of these segment profitability measures and key performance indicators is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our consolidated financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. Our Adjusted Margin and Adjusted Margin % may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies due to potential differences in the method of calculation.

Our Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) reports customer inducement costs as a reduction of revenue in the respective revenue lines. Our revenues are recognized on a “net” basis when we are acting as an agent, and on a “gross” basis when we are acting as a principal. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects — Our Revenue, Service Cost and Other Revenue and Expenses — Revenue.” Income from packages, including income on airline tickets sold to customers as a part of tours and packages is accounted for on a gross basis as the Company controls the services before they are transferred to travelers. Revenue from the packages business which is accounted for on a “gross” basis represents the total amount paid by customers for these travel services and products, while our cost of procuring the relevant services and products for sale to our customers in this business is classified as service cost. We believe that Adjusted Margin reflects the value addition of the travel services that we provide to customers in our packages business where we are the principal and is similar to the revenue on a “net” basis for our air ticketing, hotels, and bus ticketing business where we act as an agent.

We believe that our current calculations of Adjusted Operating Profit (Loss), Adjusted Net Profit (Loss), Adjusted Margin % and Adjusted Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share represent a balanced approach to adjusting for the impact of certain discrete, unusual or non-cash items and other items such as customer inducement costs in the nature of customer incentives, customer acquisition costs and loyalty program costs which are useful in measuring our operating results and provide useful information to investors and analysts. We believe that investors and analysts in our industry use these non-IFRS measures and key performance indicators to compare our company and our performance to that of our global peers.

3


 

The IFRS measures most directly comparable to “Adjusted Operating Profit (Loss),” “Adjusted Net Profit (Loss)” and “Adjusted Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share” are results from operating activities, profit (loss) for the year and diluted earnings (loss) per share, respectively. Each item is more fully explained in “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects.” We believe that adjustments to these IFRS measures are representative of operating results of the Company and provide useful information to investors and analysts. A limitation of using Adjusted Operating Profit (Loss), Adjusted Net Profit (Loss) and Adjusted Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share instead of operating profit (loss), net profit (loss) and diluted earnings (loss) per share calculated in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB is that these non-IFRS measures exclude a recurring cost, namely share-based compensation. Management compensates for this limitation by providing specific information on the IFRS amounts excluded from Adjusted Operating Profit (Loss), Adjusted Net Profit (Loss) and Adjusted Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share. The presentation of these non-IFRS measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our consolidated financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. For further information and a reconciliation of these non-IFRS measures to the most directly comparable IFRS measures, see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects — Certain Key Performance Indicators and Non-IFRS Measures” elsewhere in this Annual Report.

4


 

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements that relate to our current expectations and views of future events. These forward-looking statements are contained principally in the sections entitled “Item 3. Key Information,” “Item 4. Information on the Company” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects.” These statements relate to events that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors,” which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

In some cases, these forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions.

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some of which are beyond our control. In addition, these forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are not a guarantee of future performance. Actual outcomes may differ materially from the information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including, without limitation, the risk factors set forth in “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors,” and the following:

 

the impact of the COVID-19 (as defined herein) pandemic on our business, the travel industry and the economy of India and elsewhere generally;

   our ability to maintain and expand our supplier relationships;

 

our reliance on technology;

 

our ability to expand our business, implement our strategy and effectively manage our growth;

 

our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy;

 

our ability to attract, train and retain executives and other qualified employees;

 

the potential for disruptive competition in the Indian travel industry;

 

risks associated with online commerce security;

 

political and economic stability in and around India, Thailand, and other key travel destinations in Asia, Europe and Latin America; and

 

the effect of the material weakness that our management has identified in our internal control over financial reporting and our ability to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting.

The forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this Annual Report. Our actual results, performance, or achievement may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, we can give no assurances that any of the events anticipated by these forward-looking statements will transpire or occur or, if any of the foregoing factors or other risks and uncertainties described elsewhere in this Annual Report were to occur, what impact they would have on these forward-looking statements, including our results of operations or financial condition. In view of these uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

 

5


 

PART I

ITEM 1.

IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not applicable.

ITEM 2.

OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not applicable.

ITEM 3.

KEY INFORMATION

A. Selected Consolidated Financial Data

The following selected consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income (loss) data for fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020 and the selected consolidated statement of financial position data as of March 31, 2019 and 2020 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

6


 

The selected consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income (loss) data for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 and the selected consolidated statement of financial position data as of March 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this Annual Report. Our financial and operating results for fiscal year 2017 include the financial and operating results of the ibibo Group for the two months ended March 31, 2017 following the completion of our acquisition of the ibibo Group on January 31, 2017, and for the full year in fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020. The financial data set forth below should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by reference to, “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. Our historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future period.

 

 

 

Fiscal Year Ended March 31,

 

 

 

2016

 

 

2017

 

 

2018

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands, except per share data and share count)

 

Consolidated Statement of Profit or

   Loss and Other Comprehensive

   Income (Loss) Data:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air ticketing

 

$

78,172

 

 

$

118,514

 

 

$

167,391

 

 

$

166,714

 

 

$

174,361

 

Hotels and packages

 

 

251,713

 

 

 

314,254

 

 

 

439,963

 

 

 

237,524

 

 

 

235,814

 

Bus ticketing(1)

 

 

696

 

 

 

5,615

 

 

 

50,932

 

 

 

53,745

 

 

 

65,009

 

Other revenue

 

 

5,473

 

 

 

9,233

 

 

 

16,970

 

 

 

28,028

 

 

 

36,345

 

Total revenue

 

 

336,054

 

 

 

447,616

 

 

 

675,256

 

 

 

486,011

 

 

 

511,529

 

Other income

 

 

1,014

 

 

 

363

 

 

 

435

 

 

 

220

 

 

 

1,063

 

Service cost:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Procurement cost of hotels and

   packages services

 

 

(165,264

)

 

 

(173,919

)

 

 

(169,347

)

 

 

(160,824

)

 

 

(141,404

)

Other cost of providing

   services

 

 

(1,770

)

 

 

 

 

 

(6,530

)

 

 

(12,588

)

 

 

(12,916

)

Personnel expenses

 

 

(49,018

)

 

 

(73,736

)

 

 

(114,157

)

 

 

(113,567

)

 

 

(129,836

)

Marketing and sales promotion

   Expenses

 

 

(108,966

)

 

 

(224,424

)

 

 

(451,818

)

 

 

(192,080

)

 

 

(166,603

)

Other operating expenses

 

 

(67,954

)

 

 

(81,585

)

 

 

(120,566

)

 

 

(133,295

)

 

 

(185,401

)

Depreciation, amortization

   and impairment

 

 

(10,923

)

 

 

(20,077

)

 

 

(32,712

)

 

 

(26,817

)

 

 

(33,682

)

Impairment of goodwill

 

 

 

 

 

(9,625

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(272,160

)

Results from operating activities

 

 

(66,827

)

 

 

(135,387

)

 

 

(219,439

)

 

 

(152,940

)

 

 

(429,410

)

Net finance income (costs)

 

 

(18,741

)

 

 

26,979

 

 

 

1,288

 

 

 

(4,870

)

 

 

(18,071

)

Impairment in respect of an

   equity-accounted investee

 

 

(959

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(9,926

)

 

 

 

Share of loss of equity-accounted

   Investees

 

 

(1,860

)

 

 

(1,702

)

 

 

(1,998

)

 

 

(887

)

 

 

(65

)

Loss before tax

 

 

(88,387

)

 

 

(110,110

)

 

 

(220,149

)

 

 

(168,623

)

 

 

(447,546

)

Income tax benefit (expense)

 

 

(155

)

 

 

(193

)

 

 

(91

)

 

 

740

 

 

 

29

 

Loss for the year

 

$

(88,542

)

 

$

(110,303

)

 

$

(220,240

)

 

$

(167,883

)

 

$

(447,517

)

Loss per share (including Class B

   Shares):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic

 

$

(2.12

)

 

$

(2.09

)

 

$

(2.18

)

 

$

(1.61

)

 

$

(4.26

)

Diluted

 

$

(2.12

)

 

$

(2.09

)

 

$

(2.18

)

 

$

(1.61

)

 

$

(4.26

)

Weighted average number of

   shares outstanding (including

   Class B Shares):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic

 

 

41,714,518

 

 

 

52,607,986

 

 

 

100,394,080

 

 

 

103,989,421

 

 

 

105,190,507

 

Diluted

 

 

41,714,518

 

 

 

52,607,986

 

 

 

100,394,080

 

 

 

103,989,421

 

 

 

105,190,507

 

 

(1)

Until March 31, 2018, for internal reporting purposes, our “Bus Ticketing” revenue was included under the “Other” segment. Effective April 1, 2018, we changed the composition of our operating segments which has resulted in “Bus Ticketing” now being reported as a separate segment. Following this change in the composition of our reportable segments, we restated the corresponding items of segment information for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. In addition, Bus Ticketing revenue information for fiscal year 2016 has been presented for comparative purposes.

7


 

 

The following table sets forth a summary of our consolidated statement of financial position as of March 31, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020:

 

 

 

As of March 31,

 

 

 

2016

 

 

2017

 

 

2018

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

 

 

 

Consolidated Statement of Financial

   Position Data:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trade and other receivables, net

 

$

29,168

 

 

$

37,284

 

 

$

58,315

 

 

$

55,462

 

 

$

56,065

 

 

 

 

Term deposits

 

 

169,312

 

 

 

95,673

 

 

 

202,335

 

 

 

134,133

 

 

 

38,030

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

53,434

 

 

 

101,704

 

 

 

187,647

 

 

 

177,990

 

 

 

129,881

 

 

 

 

Net current assets

 

 

157,925

 

 

 

128,787

 

 

 

340,614

 

 

 

236,075

 

 

 

99,151

 

 

 

 

Total assets

 

 

400,989

 

 

 

1,544,784

 

 

 

1,765,456

 

 

 

1,570,286

 

 

 

1,083,211

 

 

 

 

Total equity

 

 

77,609

 

 

 

1,405,462

 

 

 

1,558,932

 

 

 

1,357,368

 

 

 

862,292

 

 

 

 

Loans and borrowings

 

 

197,300

 

 

 

749

 

 

 

652

 

 

 

707

 

 

 

25,584

 

 

(1

)

Trade and other payables

 

 

110,296

 

 

 

121,563

 

 

 

181,430

 

 

 

110,970

 

 

 

70,747

 

 

 

 

Total liabilities

 

 

323,380

 

 

 

139,322

 

 

 

206,524

 

 

 

212,918

 

 

 

220,919

 

 

 

 

Total equity and liabilities

 

$

400,989

 

 

$

1,544,784

 

 

$

1,765,456

 

 

$

1,570,286

 

 

$

1,083,211

 

 

 

 

 

(1)

Includes $24.6 million of lease liabilities on account of adoption of IFRS 16 Leases from April 1, 2019. See Notes 4 and 29 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements in Item 18 for more information.

 

Other Data:

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, certain selected consolidated financial and other data:

 

 

 

Fiscal Year Ended March 31,

 

 

 

2016

 

 

2017

 

 

2018

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands, except percentages)

 

Unit Metrics(1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air Ticketing  - Flight segments(2)

 

*

 

 

 

20,560

 

 

 

33,339

 

 

 

39,485

 

 

 

42,054

 

Hotels and Packages - Room nights(3)

 

*

 

 

 

10,535

 

 

 

21,911

 

 

 

26,611

 

 

 

29,647

 

Standalone Hotels - Online(4) - Room

   nights(3)

 

*

 

 

 

9,102

 

 

 

20,998

 

 

 

25,911

 

 

 

29,043

 

Bus Ticketing - Travelled tickets

 

*

 

 

 

5,479

 

 

 

39,570

 

 

 

61,464

 

 

 

78,582

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted Margin:(5)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air Ticketing

 

$

76,402

 

 

$

118,514

 

 

$

202,064

 

 

$

234,153

 

 

$

249,720

 

Hotels and Packages

 

 

86,449

 

 

 

140,335

 

 

 

313,684

 

 

 

351,615

 

 

 

360,116

 

Bus Ticketing(6)

 

 

696

 

 

 

5,615

 

 

 

44,402

 

 

 

58,825

 

 

 

75,637

 

Others

 

 

5,473

 

 

 

9,233

 

 

 

16,970

 

 

 

28,831

 

 

 

37,947

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross Bookings:(7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air Ticketing

 

$

1,275,748

 

 

$

1,545,152

 

 

$

2,704,522

 

 

$

3,214,545

 

 

$

3,581,267

 

Hotels and Packages

 

 

565,765

 

 

 

745,136

 

 

 

1,389,623

 

 

 

1,515,464

 

 

 

1,626,732

 

Bus Ticketing

 

*

 

 

 

63,273

 

 

 

496,920

 

 

 

716,135

 

 

 

885,736

 

Adjusted Margin %:(8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air Ticketing

 

 

6.0

%

 

7.7%(9)

 

 

 

7.5

%

 

 

7.3

%

 

 

7.0

%

Hotels and Packages

 

 

15.3

%

 

 

18.8

%

 

 

22.6

%

 

 

23.2

%

 

 

22.1

%

Bus Ticketing

 

*

 

 

 

8.9

%

 

 

8.9

%

 

 

8.2

%

 

 

8.5

%

 

Notes:

8


 

(1)

In fiscal year 2019, we discontinued tracking of our number of air ticketing and hotels and packages transactions as measures of our business performance in our air ticketing and hotels and packages segments. Instead, we began tracking flight segments in our air ticketing business, room nights in our hotel and packages business and travelled tickets in our bus ticketing business. Information on these measures for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 have been presented for comparative purposes. Information on these measures for fiscal year 2016 is not available and denoted by *.

(2)

A “flight segment” is a flight between two cities, whether or not such flight is part of a larger or longer itinerary.

(3)

“Room nights,” also referred to as a “hotel-room nights,” is the total number of hotel rooms occupied by a customer or group, multiplied by the number of nights that such customer or group occupies those rooms.

(4)

“Standalone Hotels – Online” are Standalone Hotels booked on desktops, laptops, mobiles and other online platforms.

(5)

The key travel services the Company offers are booking of air tickets, hotels and packages and bus tickets. Income from the sale of airline tickets, hotel room nights and bus tickets is recognized as an agent on a “net” commission earned basis, as the Company does not assume any performance obligation relating to the service. In our packages business, the Company acts as the primary obligor for such packages since the Group controls the services before such services are transferred to the traveler and accordingly, the revenue for packages is accounted for on a “gross” basis.

As certain parts of our revenue are recognized on a “net” basis and other parts of our revenue are recognized on a “gross” basis, we evaluate our financial performance in each of our reportable segments based on Adjusted Margin, which is a segment profitability measure, as we believe that Adjusted Margin reflects the value addition of the travel services that we provide to our customers. The presentation of this segment profitability information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our consolidated financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. Our Adjusted Margin may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies due to potential differences in the method of calculation.

The following table reconciles our revenue (an IFRS measure) to Adjusted Margin (a segment profitability measure):

 

 

 

Air Ticketing

 

 

Hotels and Packages

 

 

 

Fiscal Year Ended March 31,

 

 

Fiscal Year Ended March 31,

 

 

 

2016

 

 

2017

 

 

2018

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

2016

 

 

2017

 

 

2018

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Revenue as per IFRS(a)

 

$

78,172

 

 

$

118,514

 

 

$

167,391

 

 

$

166,714

 

 

$

174,361

 

 

$

251,713

 

 

$

314,254

 

 

$

439,963

 

 

$

237,524

 

 

$

235,814

 

Add: Customer inducement costs recorded as a reduction

   of revenue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

34,673

 

 

 

68,632

 

 

 

75,779

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

43,068

 

 

 

274,915

 

 

 

265,706

 

'Less: Service Cost as per IFRS

 

 

1,770

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,193

 

 

 

420

 

 

 

165,264

 

 

 

173,919

 

 

 

169,347

 

 

 

160,824

 

 

 

141,404

 

Adjusted Margin

 

$

76,402

 

 

$

118,514

 

 

$

202,064

 

 

$

234,153

 

 

$

249,720

 

 

$

86,449

 

 

$

140,335

 

 

$

313,684

 

 

$

351,615

 

 

$

360,116

 

 

9


 

 

 

 

Bus Ticketing

 

 

Others

 

 

 

 

Fiscal Year Ended March 31,

 

 

Fiscal Year Ended March 31,

 

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

 

2016

 

 

2017

 

 

2018

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

2016

 

 

2017

 

 

2018

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

Revenue as per IFRS(a)

 

$

696

 

 

$

5,615

 

 

$

50,932

 

 

$

53,745

 

 

$

65,009

 

 

$

5,473

 

 

$

9,233

 

 

$

16,970

 

 

$

28,028

 

 

$

36,345

 

 

Add: Customer inducement costs recorded as a reduction

   of revenue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

13,950

 

 

$

17,688

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

861

 

 

 

1,985

 

 

'Less: Service Cost as per

   IFRS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6,530

 

 

 

8,870

 

 

 

7,060

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

58

 

b

 

383

 

b

Adjusted Margin

 

$

696

 

 

$

5,615

 

 

$

44,402

 

 

$

58,825

 

 

$

75,637

 

 

$

5,473

 

 

$

9,233

 

 

$

16,970

 

 

$

28,831

 

 

$

37,947

 

 

 

“a” Effective April 1, 2018, we adopted the new revenue recognition standard IFRS 15, where customer inducement costs have been recorded as a reduction of revenue. We have adopted the new standard by using the cumulative effect method and accordingly the comparative information has not been restated.

“b”Loyalty program costs amounting to $2.5 million and $5.1 million have been excluded from service cost for the fiscal years 2019 and 2020, respectively, relating to “Others”.

(6)

Until March 31, 2018, for internal reporting purposes, our “Bus Ticketing” revenue was included under the “Others” segment. Effective April 1, 2018, we changed the composition of our operating segments which has resulted in “Bus Ticketing” now being reported as a separate segment. Following this change in the composition of our reportable segments, we have restated the corresponding items of segment information for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. In addition, Bus Ticketing revenue information for fiscal year 2016 has been presented for comparative purposes. Bus ticketing gross booking information for fiscal year 2016 is not available and denoted by *.

(7)

Gross bookings represent the total amount paid by our customers for the travel services and products booked through us, including taxes, fees and other charges, and are net of cancellations, discounts and refunds.

(8)

Adjusted Margin % is defined as Adjusted Margin as a percentage of gross bookings.

(9)

In fiscal year 2017, we recognized incremental revenue of $9.2 million based on quarterly evaluation of trends of refund rights exercised by our customers along with a change in the estimate for provisions for cancelled tickets pursuant to confirmation from a supplier. Excluding such incremental revenue, our Adjusted Margin % for air ticketing for fiscal year 2017 would be 7.1%.

 

B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

 

10


 

 

D. Risk Factors

This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described in the following risk factors and elsewhere in this Annual Report. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer.

Risks Related to Us and Our Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to have, a material adverse effect on the travel industry and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

An outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 disease, was identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and was subsequently recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted the level of economic activity around the world, and the travel and tourism sector is one of the sectors that have been impacted most severely. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government in India and governments in many countries and regions have implemented containment measures, such as imposing restrictions on travel and business operations and advising or requiring individuals to drastically limit the time spent outside of their homes. The ability to travel has been curtailed by city, state and national border closures, mandated travel restrictions and limited operations of airlines and hotels. Many of our customers and suppliers, including hotels and airlines, drastically curtailed their service offerings or ceased operations entirely. These measures are being continuously re-evaluated by the relevant authorities, and whether these measures are eased, continued or increased is outside of our control or ability to predict.

The measures implemented to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic have had, and are currently expected to continue to have, a significant negative effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Further, we cannot predict the impact that future regulatory actions in India or elsewhere may have on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020, we experienced, and expect to continue to experience, a significant decline in travel demand resulting in significant customer cancellations and refund requests and reduced new orders relating to international and domestic travel and lodging. We observed a significant decrease in supply of domestic transportation tickets and international air tickets in response to comprehensive containment measures in India and international regions. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020, as a result of the significant negative impact related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel industry, our stock price and market capitalization, we performed a quantitative assessment of goodwill and, following that assessment, we recorded an impairment charge of our goodwill amounting to $272.2 million primarily related to our Goibibo business, which we had acquired in fiscal year 2017.

 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the Group’s businesses, results of operation, financial positions and cash flows were materially and adversely affected at the end of fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020 with continuing impact in the subsequent periods. Domestic and international travel restrictions imposed in India materially disrupted our revenue lines after the fiscal year end. Such restrictions have continued for the greater part of the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 with only some domestic travel and government approved international travel operations commencing in June 2020. This has resulted in our revenue declining more than 90% during the first quarter of fiscal year 2021. The decline in revenue has been offset by corresponding decline in all direct transaction related expenses such as service cost, marketing and sales promotion expenses and payment gateway charges. However, such restrictions remain unpredictable as to their timing and may evolve in response to the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Beginning in April 2020, we have implemented various cost saving measures in response to current market conditions. These include compensation cuts of up to 100% of salary for our Group Executive Chairman and Group CEO, approximately 50% salary reductions for the rest of the senior management team and smaller reductions for the rest of our managerial positions. We have also significantly ramped down our outsourced teams at our call centers and our offline team managing corporate events. We are optimizing our IT infrastructure costs, our office costs and various other general and administrative expense. Apart from reductions in fixed costs, we are also reducing our variable costs including marketing and sales promotions and payment gateway costs. We have also cancelled all discretionary spends such as events, trainings and brand building. We expect some of these cost saving measures to remain in place at least through the beginning of fiscal year 2021. In light of our shift in focus away from offline sales channels as well as continuing effort to optimize fixed costs, we are also closing our company-owned offline retail stores in India.

11


 

Our business and the travel industry in general is particularly sensitive to reductions in personal and business-related discretionary travel and spending levels. The COVID-19 pandemic could continue to impede global economic activity, even as restrictions are lifted, leading to decreased per capita income and disposable income, increased and prolonged unemployment or a decline in consumer confidence, all of which could significantly reduce discretionary travel and spending by individuals and businesses. In turn, that could have a negative impact on demand for our services and could lead us, our suppliers or our competitors to reduce prices or offer incentives to attract travelers, despite already operating in a highly competitive industry. Such circumstances or developments could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We cannot reasonably estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our future revenues, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity or financial condition, but such impacts have been and will likely continue to be significant for the foreseeable future.

Declines or Disruptions in the Travel Industry Could Adversely Affect Our Business and Financial Performance.

Our business and financial performance is affected by the health of the travel industry in India and worldwide, including changes in supply and pricing. Events specific to the travel industry that could negatively affect our business include changes in the commercial aviation landscape, fare increases, travel-related strikes, aviation accidents or labor unrest, general civil unrest, fuel price volatility and bankruptcies or liquidations of our suppliers. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the travel industry in India, including our business, and around the world. According to a July 2020 report by CRISIL Research, air passenger traffic in India’s domestic and international sectors is expected to shrink by 40-45% and 60-65%, respectively, in 2020, with Indian carriers expected to log operating losses despite lower crude oil prices and airline bankruptcies possible around the world. Even if domestic and international air passenger traffic begins to return to pre-pandemic levels, public health and safety regulations or restrictions imposed in India or elsewhere and other factors may delay or impede recovery in the travel industry. For more information, see “– The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to have, a material adverse effect on the travel industry and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.”

Political and social unrest, including in India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Maldives has also adversely impacted travel to and within India at times in the past. Such events, particularly in the Middle East, also impact crude oil prices which may have an adverse impact on the travel industry globally, including our business. Sudden disruptions in travel have also followed terrorist attacks carried out internationally, such as in the United States, Sri Lanka, Paris, Brussels and the United Kingdom, as well as domestically in India.  Adverse weather conditions or other natural disasters, such as the April 2019 cyclone in Odisha (India), the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, the September 2014 Kashmir (India) floods and pandemic situations. In addition, the drop in the average value of the Indian Rupee as compared to the US dollar in fiscal year 2020 adversely impacted the Indian travel industry as it made travel for Indian consumers outside of India more expensive.

The majority of the domestic Indian air travel industry is concentrated among a small base of domestic airlines. Therefore, adverse market developments, particularly among the most dominant domestic airlines, are more likely to impact our business. For example, in April 2019, Jet Airways (India) Limited, one of the leading airlines in India, suspended all of its flight operations, which reduced the supply of air travel tickets available on our platform.

Additionally, our business is sensitive to safety concerns, and thus our business has in the past declined and may in the future decline after incidents of actual or threatened terrorism, during periods of political instability or conflict or during other periods in which travelers become concerned about safety issues, including as a result of natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes or when travel might involve health-related risks, such as the COVID-19 virus, Ebola virus disease, Middle East respiratory syndrome, the influenza A virus (H1N1), avian flu (H5N1 and H7N9), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the Zika virus or other epidemics or pandemics. In addition, there may be work stoppages or labor unrest at airlines or airports. Acts of terrorism and adverse weather conditions or other natural disasters such as those mentioned above may also in the future have a negative impact on our tourism business. Hotels, airlines, airports and cruises have in recent years been the subject of terrorist attacks in India, Spain, Egypt, Russia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Such events are outside our control and could result in a significant decrease in demand for our travel services. Any such decrease in demand, depending on its scope and duration, together with any other issues affecting travel safety, could significantly and adversely affect our business and financial performance over the short and long term. The occurrence of such events could result in disruptions to our customers’ travel plans and we may incur additional costs and constrained liquidity if we provide relief to affected customers by not charging cancellation fees or by refunding the cost of airline tickets, hotel reservations and other travel services and products. If there is a prolonged substantial decrease in travel volumes, particularly air travel and hotels, for these or any other reasons, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

12


 

Our Business and Results of Operations Could Be Adversely Affected by Global Economic Conditions.

Perceived or actual adverse economic conditions, including slow, slowing or negative economic growth, unemployment rates, inflation and weakening currencies, and concerns over government responses such as higher taxes and reduced government spending, could impair consumer spending and adversely affect travel demand. Consumer purchases of discretionary items generally decline during periods of recession and other periods in which disposable income is adversely affected. As a substantial portion of travel expenditure, for both business and leisure, is discretionary, the travel industry tends to experience weak or reduced demand during economic downturns.

Unfavorable changes in the above factors or in other business and economic conditions affecting our customers could result in fewer reservations made through our websites and/or lower our Adjusted Margin %, and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The global economy may be adversely impacted by unforeseen events beyond our control including incidents of actual or threatened terrorism, regional hostilities or instability, unusual weather patterns, natural disasters, political instability and health concerns (including epidemics or pandemics), defaults on government debt, tax increases and other matters that could reduce discretionary spending, tightening of credit markets and further declines in consumer confidence. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the travel industry in India, including our business, and around the world. See also “– The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to have, a material adverse effect on the travel industry and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.” In addition, the uncertainty of macro-economic factors and their impact on consumer behavior, which may differ across regions, makes it more difficult to forecast industry and consumer trends and the timing and degree of their impact on our markets and business, which in turn could adversely affect our ability to effectively manage our business and adversely affect our results of operations. The weakness and uncertainty in the global economy have negatively impacted both corporate and consumer spending patterns and demand for travel services, globally and in India, and may continue to do so in the future.

As an intermediary in the travel industry, a significant portion of our revenue is affected by fares and tariffs charged by our suppliers as well as volumes of sales made by us. During periods of poor economic conditions, airlines and hotels tend to reduce rates or offer discounted sales or run promotions to stimulate demand, thereby reducing our commission-based income. A slowdown in economic conditions may also result in a decrease in transaction volumes and adversely affect our revenue. It is difficult to predict the effects of the uncertainty in global economic conditions. If economic conditions worsen globally or in India, our growth plans, business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.

If We Are Unable to Maintain Existing, and Establish New, Arrangements with Travel Suppliers, Our Business May Be Adversely Affected.

Our business is dependent on our ability to maintain our relationships and arrangements with existing suppliers, such as airlines which supply air tickets to us directly, Amadeus IT Group SA, Travelport Worldwide Ltd and Trip.com (our majority shareholder and formerly known as Ctrip.com International Ltd), our global distribution system, or GDS, service providers, Indian Railways, hotels, hotel suppliers and destination management companies, bus operators and car hire companies, as well as our ability to establish and maintain relationships with new travel suppliers. A substantial portion of our Revenue and Adjusted Margin is derived from fees and commissions negotiated with travel suppliers for bookings made through our websites, mobile platforms or via our other distribution channels. Adverse changes in existing arrangements, including an inability by any travel supplier to fulfill their payment obligation to us in a timely manner, increasing industry consolidation or our inability to enter into or renew arrangements with these parties on favorable terms, if at all, could reduce the amount, quality, pricing and breadth of the travel services and products that we are able to offer, which could adversely affect our business and financial performance. For example, we have experienced short-term disruptions in the supply of tickets from domestic airlines in the past.

In addition, adverse economic developments affecting the travel industry could also adversely impact our ability to maintain our existing relationships and arrangements with one or more of our suppliers. In particular, adverse changes to the overall business and financial climate for the airline industry in India due to various factors including, but not limited to, rising fuel costs, high taxes, significant depreciation of the Indian Rupee as compared to the US dollar making travel for Indian consumers outside India more expensive, and increased liquidity constraints, could affect the ability of one or more of our airline suppliers to continue to operate or otherwise meet our demand for tickets, which, in turn, could materially and adversely affect our financial results. In addition, adverse changes to the overall business and financial climate for the airline industry in India due to various factors including, but not limited to, rising fuel costs, high taxes, significant depreciation of the Indian Rupee as compared

13


 

to the US dollar making travel for Indian consumers outside India more expensive, and increased liquidity constraints, resulted in airlines in India reducing the base commissions paid to travel agencies. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the travel industry in India, including our business, and around the world. For more information, see “Risk Factors – Risks Relating to Us and Our Industry – The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to have, a material adverse effect on the travel industry and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.”

Over the last few years, the domestic airlines in India have continued to reduce the base commissions paid to travel agencies, which has had an adverse impact on our business in the past and rising competition in the Indian travel market prompted us to significantly increase our spending on marketing and sales expenses to promote transactions on our mobile platforms in India and to promote our non-air ticketing business. Any consolidation in the airline industry involving our suppliers may also adversely affect our existing relationships and arrangements with such suppliers.

We have made significant investments in our ongoing customer inducement and acquisition programs in recent years, such as cash incentives and select loyalty program incentive promotions, to accelerate growth in our standalone hotel booking business in response to increased competition in the domestic travel market in India, although most recently we significantly reduced our marketing and sales promotion and advertising activities in response to the decline in travel industry activity due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and also in line with our strategy of optimizing our marketing and sales promotion spend. This was the primary factor that resulted in our net loss of  $(220.2) million and $(167.9) in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively. In fiscal year 2020, our net loss was $(447.5) million, of which $(302.9) million was the result of an impairment of goodwill and provision for litigations.

No assurance can be given that our agreements or arrangements with our travel suppliers or GDS service providers will continue. In addition, our travel suppliers or GDS service providers may further reduce or eliminate fees or commissions or attempt to charge us for content, terminate our contracts, make their products or services unavailable to us as part of exclusive arrangements with our competitors or default on or dispute their payment or other obligations towards us, any of which could reduce our revenue and Adjusted Margin % or may require us to initiate legal or arbitral proceedings to enforce their contractual payment obligations, which may adversely affect our business and financial performance. See also “— Some of Our Airline Suppliers (Including Our GDS Service Providers) May Reduce or Eliminate the Commission and Other Fees They Pay to Us for the Sale of Air Tickets and This Could Adversely Affect Our Business and Results of Operations.”

We Do Not Have Formal Agreements with Many of Our Travel Suppliers.

We rely on various travel suppliers to facilitate the sale of our travel services. We do not have formal agreements with many of our travel suppliers whose booking systems or central reservations systems are relied upon by us for bookings and confirmation as well as certain payment gateway arrangements, and there can be no assurance that these third parties will not terminate these arrangements with us at short notice or without notice. Further, where we have entered into formal agreements, many of these agreements are short-term contracts, requiring periodic renewal and providing our counterparties with a right to terminate at short notice or without notice. Some of these agreements are scheduled to expire in the near future and we are in the process of renewing those agreements. Many of our suppliers with whom we have formal agreements, including airlines, are also able to alter the terms of their contracts with us at will or at short notice. Our agreement with Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited, or IRCTC, which allows us to transact with Indian Railways’ passenger reservation system through the Internet, can be terminated or temporarily suspended by IRCTC without prior notice and at its sole discretion. Termination, non-renewal or suspension or an adverse amendment of any of the abovementioned agreements and/or arrangements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We Have Sustained Operating Losses in the Past and May Continue to Experience Operating Losses in the Future.

We sustained operating losses in fiscal years from 2013 to 2020 and in all our fiscal years prior to and including fiscal year 2010. While we generated operating profits in fiscal years 2011 and 2012, there can be no assurance that we will be able to return to profitability or that we can avoid operating losses in the future. We expect to continue making investments in mobile technology, marketing and sales promotion (including brand building) and customer acquisition programs and expanding our hotels and packages offerings as part of our long-term strategy to increase the net revenue contribution of our hotels and packages business and to increase the share of outbound travel from India. The degree of increases in these expenses will be largely based on anticipated

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organizational growth and revenue trends, the competitive environment, pricing trends and trends in online penetration of the Indian travel market. As a result, any decrease or delay in generating additional sales volumes and revenue could result in substantial operating losses in recent years we made significant investments in our ongoing customer inducement and acquisition programs, such as cash incentives and select loyalty program incentive promotions, to accelerate growth in our standalone hotel booking business in response to increased competition in the domestic travel market in India. This was the primary factor that resulted in our net loss of  $(220.2) million and $(167.9) in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively. In fiscal year 2020, our net loss was $(447.5) million, of which $(302.9) million was the result of an impairment of goodwill and provision for litigations.

The Travel Industry in India and Worldwide is Highly Competitive, and We May Not Be Able to Effectively Compete in the Future.

The market for travel services and products is highly competitive. We compete with established and emerging providers of travel services and products, including other online travel agencies such as Yatra.com, Booking.com, Cleartrip.com, and Expedia.com, and offline traditional travel agencies, tour operators and travel suppliers. We also face increasing competition from payment platforms, online marketplaces, search engines and intermediaries that also offer travel services. Many large, established internet search engines who offer travel services, and meta-search companies who can aggregate travel search results also compete with us for customers. Consumers may favor travel services offered by meta-search platforms or search companies over online travel companies such as ours, which could reduce traffic to our online platforms and require us to further increase our expenditures on marketing and other customer acquisition. The Indian market is highly competitive, and current and new competitors may be able to launch new services at a lower cost. In the hotels and packages segment, we primarily compete with traditional travel players such as Thomas Cook, Travel Triangle and others in packages offerings, as well as online travel agencies in the case of standalone hotel bookings and new entrants.

Factors affecting our competitive success include, among other things, price, availability and breadth of choice of travel services and products, brand recognition, customer service, fees charged to travelers, ease of use, accessibility and reliability. Certain of our competitors have launched brand marketing campaigns to increase their visibility with customers. In addition, many large hotel chains and Over the Counter chains have launched initiatives, such as increased discounting and incentives, to encourage consumers to book accommodations through their websites. Discounting and couponing coupled with a high degree of consumer shopping behavior is particularly common in Asian markets we operate in, while brand loyalty in such markets is less important. In some cases, our competitors are willing to make little or no profit on a transaction, or offer travel services at a loss, in order to gain market share. Some of our competitors have significantly greater financial, marketing, personnel and other resources than us and certain of our competitors have a longer history of established businesses and reputations in the Indian travel market (particularly in the hotels and packages business) as compared with us. From time to time we may be required to reduce service fees and Adjusted Margin % in order to compete effectively and maintain or gain market share.

Over the years, there has been a proliferation of new channels through which accommodation providers can offer reservations as the market for travel services has evolved. For example, several leading online travel companies now allow alternative accommodation property owners, particularly individuals, to list alternative accommodations on their platforms, which has resulted in direct competition with our alternative accommodation services. Further, we may also face increased competition from new entrants in our industry, some of whom may offer discounted rates and other incentives from time to time. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully compete against existing or new competitors in our existing lines of business as well as new lines of business into which we may venture. If we are not able to compete effectively, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Some travel suppliers are seeking to decrease their reliance on distribution intermediaries like us, by promoting direct distribution channels. Many airlines, hotels, car rental companies and tour operators have call centers and have established their own travel distribution websites and mobile applications. From time to time, travel suppliers offer advantages, such as bonus loyalty awards and lower transaction fees or discounted prices, when their services and products are purchased from supplier-related channels. We also compete with competitors who may offer less content, functionality and marketing reach but at a relatively lower cost to suppliers. If our access to supplier-provided content or features were to be diminished either relative to our competitors or in absolute terms or if we are unable to compete effectively with travel supplier-related channels or other competitors, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

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We Have Incurred and May Continue to Incur Significant Expenses to Grow Our Businesses, Including Marketing and Sales Promotion Expenses.

In order to drive our growth strategy in the hotels business, in the past we have incurred increased marketing and sales promotion expenses. Over the last few years we have also made significant investments in customer acquisition through our customer inducement programs such as cash incentives and select loyalty program incentive promotions, to accelerate growth in our standalone hotel booking business in response to increased competition in the domestic travel market in India. We may continue to incur such expenses in future, including expenses associated with our strategy of converting our traditional offline customers into online customers. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant expenses associated with customer inducement and acquisition programs in our hotels and packages business to offer cash incentives and select loyalty program incentive promotions from time to time on our booking platforms. We may also increase our marketing and sales promotion expenses as a result of our expansion into new markets and such expenses may not be offset by increased revenue particularly at the initial commencement of business in these new markets. We may also be required to lower our fees and commissions charged to hotel suppliers to retain and increase our market share in response to competitors that are able to negotiate better rates and higher performance linked and other incentives from such suppliers, including new entrants with greater financial resources than us. We may also incur increasing marketing and sales promotion expenses as we grow our redBus business (which we acquired as part of our acquisition of the ibibo Group), which competes with, among others, Abhibus, Paytm and other regional competitors. Such expenses and any loss of revenue from competitive pressures may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. We cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses will not be identified in the future. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements which could require us to restate financial statements in the future, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on our stock price.

In connection with our management’s ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for the period covered by this Annual Report, our management has identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and has concluded that as of March 31, 2020, our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting were not effective. See “Item 15. Controls and Procedures.”

Despite our efforts to ensure the integrity of our financial reporting process and the steps that we are taking to remediate this material weakness, we cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. Any failure to maintain or improve existing controls or implement new controls could result in material misstatements in our financial statements and adversely affect the results of annual management evaluations regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, any such failure could result in additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations which in turn could cause our shares to be de-listed or suspended from trading on the Nasdaq Global Market. Any of the foregoing could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, leading to a decline in our share price.

We Rely on Third-Party Systems and Service Providers, and Any Disruption or Adverse Change in Their Businesses Could Have a Material Adverse Effect on Our Business.

We currently rely on a variety of third-party systems, service providers and software companies. These include the GDSs and, other electronic central reservation systems used by airlines, various offline and online channel managing systems and reservation systems used by hotels and accommodation suppliers and aggregators. We also rely on systems used by Indian Railways, systems used by bus and car operators and aggregators, technologies used by payment gateway providers, as well as systems used by the local transit authorities, amusement parks, tourist attractions. In particular, we rely on third parties to:

 

enable searches for airfares and process air ticket bookings;

 

process hotel reservations;

 

process bus ticket bookings, car rental reservations and services under Experiences, a new category of service that allows our users to buy tickets to attractions, dinners and many other travel and local activities in their region;

 

process credit card, debit card, net banking and e-wallet payments;

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provide computer infrastructure critical to our business; and

 

provide customer relationship management, or CRM, software services.

Any interruption or deterioration in performance of these third-party systems and services could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, the information provided to us by certain of these third-party systems, such as the central reservations systems of certain of our hotel suppliers, may not always be accurate due to either technical glitches or human error, and we may incur monetary and/or reputational loss as a result.

Our success is also dependent on our ability to maintain our relationships with these third-party systems and service providers, including our technology partners. In the event our arrangements with any of these third parties are impaired or terminated, we may not be able to find an alternative source of systems support on a timely basis or on commercially reasonable terms, which could result in significant additional costs or disruptions to our business.

Our Strategic Investments and Acquisitions May Not Bring Us Anticipated Benefits, and We May Not Be Successful in Pursuing Future Investments and Acquisitions.

Part of our growth strategy is the pursuit of strategic investments and acquisitions, and we have made a number of investments and acquisitions in the past. For example, in January 2017, we acquired a 100% equity interest in the ibibo Group, which provides online travel services in India. In July 2018, we acquired 100% equity interest in Bitla, which provides technology support for bus operators. In April 2019, we acquired 51% equity interest from the existing shareholders of Quest2Travel, which provides travel solutions for various corporates across India. We believe that our investments and acquisitions serve to strengthen our presence in key geographic markets and expand the travel products and services that we offer our customers.

There can be no assurance that our investments and acquisitions will achieve their anticipated benefits. We may not be able to integrate acquired operations, personnel and technologies successfully or effectively manage our combined business following the acquisition. Our investments and acquisitions may subject us to uncertainties and risks, including potential ongoing and unforeseen or hidden liabilities, diversion of management resources and cost of integrating acquired businesses. We may also experience difficulties and additional expenses associated with supporting legacy products and hosting infrastructure of the acquired business and retaining suppliers and customers of the acquired business. For example, we acquired a group of companies known as the Hotel Travel Group in 2012, but significantly reduced their operations and recognized an impairment of goodwill and brands of $14.6 million in fiscal year 2017. In addition, in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020, we performed a quantitative assessment of goodwill and, following that assessment, we recorded an impairment charge of our goodwill amounting to $272.2 million primarily related to our Goibibo business, which we had acquired in fiscal year 2017. This non-cash charge does not affect our long-term operating plans for the Goibibo brand. We plan to continue driving synergies across our portfolio of multiple brands on the path of disciplined and financially sustainable growth while making appropriate investments to drive online penetration in various travel segments to support the long-term growth of our company, including the Goibibo brand.

We may not succeed in implementing our strategy of growth through strategic investments and acquisitions in the future as it is subject to many factors which are beyond our control, including our ability to identify, attract and successfully execute suitable acquisition opportunities and partnerships. Any failure to achieve the anticipated benefits of our past investments and acquisitions or to consummate new investments and acquisitions in the future could negatively impact our ability to compete in the travel industry and have a material adverse effect on our business.

For details on our investments and acquisitions, see “Item 4. Information On the Company — History and Development of our Company — Investments and Acquisitions.”

Our Results of Operations Are Subject to Fluctuations in Currency Exchange Rates.

Our presentation currency is the US dollar. However, the functional currency of MMT India and Ibibo India, our key operating subsidiaries, is the Indian Rupee. We receive a substantial portion of our revenue in Indian Rupees and most of our costs are incurred in Indian Rupees. Any fluctuation in the value of the Indian Rupee against the US dollar, such as the approximately 1.4% depreciation in the average value of the Indian Rupee as compared to the US dollar in fiscal year 2020 as compared to the average value of the Indian Rupee against the US dollar in fiscal year 2019, will affect our results of operations. The drop in the average value of the Indian Rupee as compared to the US dollar in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 adversely impacted the Indian travel industry as it made outbound travel for Indian consumers more expensive. In addition, our exposure to foreign exchange

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risk also arises in respect of our non-Indian Rupee-denominated trade and other receivables, trade and other payables, and cash and cash equivalents.

Based on our operations in fiscal year 2020, a 10.0% appreciation of the US dollar against the Indian Rupee as of March 31, 2020, assuming all other variables remained constant, would have increased our loss for fiscal year 2020 by $15.2 million. Similarly, a 10.0% depreciation of the US dollar against the Indian Rupee as of March 31, 2020, assuming all other variables remained constant, would have decreased our loss for fiscal year 2020 by $15.2 million.

We currently do not have any hedging agreements or similar arrangements with any counter-party to cover our exposure to any fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Fluctuation in the Indian Rupee-US dollar exchange rate could have a material adverse effect on our business financial condition and results of operations, which we report in US dollars.

We Outsource a Significant Portion of Our Call Center Services and If Our Outsourcing Service Providers Fail to Meet Our Requirements or Face Operational or System Disruptions, Our Business May Be Adversely Affected.

We outsource our call center service for sales for all international flights and most of our hotel reservations and packages. We also outsource our call center service for post-sales customer service support for all flights (domestic and international), hotel reservations and packages, and rail and bus ticketing, as well as back office fulfillment and ticketing services, to various third parties in India. If our outsourcing service providers experience difficulty meeting our requirements for quality and customer service standards, our reputation could suffer and our business and prospects could be adversely affected. Our operations and business could also be materially and adversely affected if our outsourcing service providers face any operational or system interruptions.

 

Further, many of our contracts with outsourcing service providers are short-term or have short notice periods. For example, our agreements with each of our call center providers may be terminated by either party on relatively short notice ranging from 30 to 90 days. In the event one or more of our contracts with our outsourcing service providers is terminated on short notice, we may be unable to find alternative outsourcing service providers on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Further, the quality of the service provided by a new or replacement outsourcing service provider may not meet our requirements, including during the transition and training phase. Hence, termination of any of our contracts with our outsourcing service providers could cause a decline in the quality of our services and disrupt and adversely affect our business results of operations and financial condition. Beginning in April 2020, we have also significantly ramped down our outsourced teams at our call centres and our offline team managing corporate events.

We Rely on Information Technology to Operate Our Business and Maintain Our Competitiveness, and Any Failure to Adapt to Technological Developments or Industry Trends Could Harm Our Business.

The markets in which we compete are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, competitor consolidation, frequent new service announcements and changing consumer demands. We may not be able to keep up with these rapid changes. In addition, these market characteristics are heightened by the progress of technology adoption in various markets, including the continuing adoption of the internet and online commerce in certain geographies and the emergence and growth of the use of smartphones and tablets for mobile e-commerce transactions, including through the increasing use of mobile apps. New developments in other areas, such as cloud computing, could make entering our markets easier for competitors due to lower upfront technology costs. As a result, our future success depends in part on our ability to adapt to rapidly changing technologies, to adapt our services and online platforms to evolving industry standards and to continually innovate and improve the performance, features and reliability of our services and online platforms in response to competitive service offerings and the evolving demands of the marketplace. In particular, it is increasingly important for us to effectively offer our services on mobile devices through mobile apps and mobile-optimized websites. Any failure by us to successfully develop and achieve customer adoption of our mobile apps and mobile-optimized websites would have a material and adverse effect on our growth, market share, business and results of operations. We believe that ease-of-use, comprehensive functionality and the look and feel of our mobile apps and mobile-optimized websites are increasingly critical as consumers obtain more of their travel and related services through mobile devices. As a result, we intend to continue to invest in the maintenance, development and enhancement of our websites and mobile platforms. Further, technical innovation often results in bugs and other system failures. Any such bug or failure, especially in connection with a significant technical implementation could result in lost business, harm to our brands or reputation, customer complaints and other adverse consequences, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Our MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus platforms are hosted on Amazon Web Services, or AWS, which provides a high degree of reliability, security and scalability and helps us to maintain adequate capacity, however, the ability to restore any disruption of these services is therefore outside of our control. In addition, we license from third-parties some of the technologies incorporated into our websites, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to renew such licenses on favorable terms or at all. As we continue to introduce new services that incorporate new technologies, we may be required to license additional technology. We cannot be sure that such technology licenses will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

Some of Our Airline Suppliers (Including Our GDS Service Providers) May Reduce or Eliminate the Commission and Other Fees They Pay to Us for the Sale of Air Tickets, and This Could Adversely Affect Our Business and Results of Operations.

In our air ticketing business, we generate revenue through commissions and incentive payments from airline suppliers, service fees charged to our customers and fees earned from our GDS service providers. Our airline suppliers may reduce or eliminate the commissions and incentive payments they pay to us. If airlines continue to move away from distribution through GDSs and use other distribution channels, it may result in a decrease in our fees earned from our GDS providers. For example, airlines in India have been reducing the base commissions paid to travel agencies since fiscal year 2015. To the extent any of our airline suppliers further reduce or eliminate the commissions or incentive payments they pay to us in the future, our revenue may be further reduced unless we are able to adequately mitigate such reduction by increasing the service fees we charge to our customers in a sustainable manner. Any increase in service fees, to mitigate reductions in or elimination of commissions or otherwise, may also result in a loss of potential customers. Our business would also be negatively impacted if competition or regulation in the travel industry causes us to reduce or eliminate our service fees.

We Rely on the Value of Our Brands, and Any Failure to Maintain or Enhance Consumer Awareness of Our Brands Could Have a Material Adverse Effect on Our Business, Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

We believe continued investment in our brands, “MakeMyTrip,” “Goibibo,” “redBus,” and “ITC” is critical to retain and expand our business. We believe that our brands are well respected and recognized in the Indian travel market. We have invested in developing and promoting our brand and expect to continue to spend on maintaining our brand’s value to enable us to compete against increased spending by our competitors, as well as against emerging competitors, including search engines and meta-search engines, and to allow us to expand into new geographies and products where our brand is not well known. There is no assurance that we will be able to successfully maintain or enhance consumer awareness of our brands. Even if we are successful in our branding efforts, such efforts may not be cost-effective. If we are unable to maintain or enhance consumer awareness of our brands and generate demand in a cost-effective manner, it would negatively impact our ability to compete in the travel industry and would have a material adverse effect on our business. Negative events or circumstances at our franchisee-owned travel stores could also adversely affect consumer perception and the value of our brands. See also “— We Cannot Be Sure That Our Intellectual Property Is Protected from Copying or Use by Others, Including Current or Potential Competitors, and We May Be Subject to Third Party Claims for Intellectual Property Rights Infringement.”

We May Not Be Successful in Implementing Our Growth Strategies.

Our growth strategies involve expanding our hotels and packages business (including through our travel agents’ network and our outbound air ticketing and hotels business for overseas travel), expanding our service and product offerings, enhancing our service platforms by investing in technology, expanding into new geographic markets and pursuing strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

Our success in implementing our growth strategies is affected by:

 

our ability to increase our customer base or drive repeat bookings from our existing customer base;

 

the general condition of the global economy (particularly in India and markets with close proximity to India) and continued growth in demand for travel services, particularly online;

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the growth of the Internet and mobile technology as a medium for commerce in India;

 

our ability to expand our businesses through strategic acquisitions and successfully integrate such acquisitions;

 

our ability to increase the number of suppliers, especially hotel suppliers, that are directly connected to us, which is dependent on the willingness of such suppliers to invest in new technology;

 

our ability to maintain relationships with our suppliers, including international hotel suppliers, online travel agents and aggregators outside India, particularly in key outbound destinations;

 

our ability to continue to expand our distribution channels, and market and cross-sell our travel services and products to facilitate the expansion of our business;

 

our ability to compete effectively with existing and new entrants to the Indian travel industry, including online travel companies, hotel room aggregators, traditional offline travel agents and tour providers;

 

our ability to build or acquire required technology;

 

changes in our regulatory environment;

 

our ability to attract and retain key personnel; and

 

the management and operation of our franchisee-owned travel stores.

Many of these factors are beyond our control and there can be no assurance that we will succeed in implementing our strategies.

Even if we are successful in executing our growth strategies, our different businesses may not grow at the same rate or with a uniform effect on our revenues and profitability. For example, the rate of growth in our hotels and packages and bus ticketing business, which has generally outpaced our air ticketing business and is a relatively higher margin business, may not grow at a pace to affect our overall growth in the short term.

We are also subject to additional risks involved in our strategies of expanding into new geographic markets and pursuing strategic partnerships and acquisitions. See “— Our International Operations Involve Additional Risks” and “— Our Strategic Investments and Acquisitions May Not Bring Us Anticipated Benefits, and We May Not Be Successful in Pursuing Future Investments and Acquisitions.”

Our Arrangements with Some of Our Suppliers May Subject Us to Additional Monetary Risks.

We generally do not assume inventory risk in our air ticketing business as we typically act as an agent. However, from time to time, we pre-purchase air ticket inventory in our Hotels and Packages business in order to obtain special negotiated rates and we assume inventory risk on such tickets. We assume similar inventory risk on admission tickets for amusement parks and attractions. When we sell pre-purchased tickets to our customers, revenue is accounted for on a “gross” basis (representing the price of the tickets paid by our customers) and the amount spent to pre-purchase the ticket is classified as a service cost. If we are unable to sell pre-purchased tickets inventory at expected rates or at all, our revenue and business may be adversely affected.

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Our International Operations Involve Additional Risks.

We have been operating in the United States since 2000, servicing mainly the air ticketing needs of non-resident Indians in the United States traveling inbound to India. We launched our website in the United Arab Emirates in December 2009. We need to continue to tailor our services and business model to the unique circumstances of such markets to succeed, including building new supplier relationships and customer preferences. We have also expanded, and intend to continue to expand, our business in other new markets, particularly those with a significant non-resident Indian population as well as those with proximity to India or favored by Indian travelers. We had previously entered into new geographies in Southeast Asia, in Europe and in Latin America through our acquisitions of Luxury Tours, the Hotel Travel Group, the EasyToBook Group, the ITC Group, Busportal entities in Peru and Colombia. These acquisitions have not always yielded the benefits that we anticipated. For example, after we acquired the Hotel Travel Group in 2012, we significantly reduced its operations and recognized an impairment of goodwill and brands of $14.6 million in fiscal year 2017. Adapting our practices and models effectively to the supplier and customer preferences in these, or other, new markets could be difficult and costly and could divert management and personnel resources. We could also face additional regulatory requirements in these, or other, new markets which could be onerous. We cannot assure you that we will be able to efficiently or effectively manage the growth of our operations in these, or other, new markets.

In addition, we are subject to risks in our international operations that may not exist in our Indian operations, including:

 

differences and unexpected changes in regulatory requirements and exposure to local economic conditions;

 

differences in consumer preferences in such markets;

 

increased risk to and limits on our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights;

 

competition from providers of travel services in such foreign countries;

 

restrictions on the repatriation of earnings from such foreign countries, including withholding taxes imposed by certain foreign jurisdictions; and

 

currency exchange rate fluctuations.

If we are not able to effectively mitigate or eliminate these risks, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our Business Could Be Negatively Affected by Changes in Search Engine Logic.

A portion of the traffic to our websites is driven by Google, and, to a lesser extent, we use other search and meta-search websites and social websites to generate traffic to our websites, principally through pay-per-click advertising campaigns. The pricing and operating dynamics on these search and metasearch websites can experience rapid change commercially, technically and competitively. For example, Google frequently updates and changes the logic which determines the placement and display of its search results, such that the placement of links to our websites can be negatively affected and our costs to improve or maintain our placement in search results can increase. Changes by Google in how it presents travel search results, including its promotion of its travel metasearch services, or the manner in which it conducts the auction for placement among search results, may be competitively disadvantageous to us and may impact our ability to efficiently generate traffic to our websites, which in turn would have an adverse effect on our business, market share and results of operations. Similarly, changes by our other search and meta-search partners in how they present travel search results or the manner in which they conduct the auction for placement among search results may be competitively disadvantageous to us and may impact our ability to efficiently generate traffic to our websites.

In addition, we rely on various third-party distribution channels (i.e., marketing affiliates) to distribute hotel accommodation and airline ticket reservations. Should one or more of such third parties cease distribution of reservations made through us, or suffer deterioration in its search or meta-search ranking, due to changes in search or meta-search algorithms or otherwise, our business, market share and results of operations could be negatively affected.

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Our processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data exposes us to risks of internal or external security breaches and could give rise to liabilities.

The security of data when engaging in electronic commerce is essential to maintaining consumer and travel service provider confidence in our services. Any security breach whether instigated internally or externally on our systems or third-party systems upon which we are dependent could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, brands and market share. It is possible that computer circumvention capabilities or other developments, including our own acts or omissions, could result in a breach of our security systems and compromise of consumer or other third-party data that we store and process. For example, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, travel service provider partners or customers to disclose user names, passwords, credit card details or other sensitive information which may in turn be used to access our information technology systems or to defraud our partners or customers. We have previously experienced targeted and organized attacks, including website attacks, phishing scams and denial of service and it is possible that we may experience more in the future. These risks are likely to increase as we expand our offerings, integrate our products and services, and store and process more data, including personal information. Our efforts to protect information from unauthorized access may be unsuccessful or may result in the rejection of legitimate attempts to book reservations through our services, any of which could result in lost business and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation.

Our existing security measures may not be successful in preventing security breaches. A party (whether internal, external, an affiliate or unrelated third party) that is able to circumvent our security systems could steal confidential or proprietary information that we store and process. In the last few years, several major companies experienced high-profile security breaches which exposed their systems and information and/or their customers' or employees' personal information. We expend significant resources to protect against the risk of such security breaches, and we may need to increase our security-related expenditures to maintain or increase our systems' security or to address problems caused and liabilities incurred by breaches. Advances in technology or other developments could result in a compromise or breach of the technology that we use to protect consumer and transaction data. These issues are likely to become more difficult to manage as we expand the number of places where we operate and the number and variety of services we offer, and as the tools and techniques used in such attacks become more advanced. Security breaches could result in severe damage to our information technology infrastructure, including damage that could impair our ability to offer our services or the ability of consumers to make reservations or conduct searches through our services. Such breaches could result in loss of customer, financial or other data that could materially and adversely affect our ability to conduct our business, satisfy our commercial obligations or meet our public reporting requirements in a timely fashion or at all. Security breaches could also result in negative publicity, damage our reputation, expose us to risk of loss or litigation and possible liability, subject us to regulatory penalties and sanctions, or cause consumers to lose confidence in our security and choose to use the services of our competitors, any of which occurrences would have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, brands and market share. Our insurance policies may not be adequate to reimburse us for losses caused by security breaches.

We have agreements with banks and certain companies that process customer credit card transactions for the facilitation of customer bookings of travel services from our travel suppliers. We may be liable for accepting international fraudulent credit cards on our websites. In fiscal year 2020, our key operating subsidiaries in India incurred a loss of $1.2 million due to unauthorized credit card transactions and refunds related to disputed settlements. These losses pertained to credit card or digital commerce fraud committed by third parties on our websites primarily through the purchase of air tickets and hotels and packages products using fraudulent credit cards. We may also be subject to other payment disputes with our customers for such sales. If we are unable to combat the use of fraudulent credit cards, our revenue from such sales would be susceptible to demands from the relevant banks and credit card processing companies, and our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We also face risks associated with security breaches affecting third parties conducting business over the internet. Consumers generally are concerned with security and privacy on the internet, and any publicized security problems could negatively affect consumers' willingness to provide private information or effect commercial transactions on the internet generally, including through our services. Some of our business is conducted with third-party marketing affiliates, which may generate travel reservations through our infrastructure or through other systems. Additionally, consumers using our services could be affected by security breaches at third parties such as travel service providers, payment processors or GDSs upon which we rely. A security breach at any such third-party marketing affiliate, travel service provider, payment processor, GDS or other third party on which we rely could be perceived by consumers as a security breach of our systems and in any event could result in negative publicity, subject us to notification requirements, damage our reputation, expose us to risk of loss or litigation and possible liability and subject us to regulatory penalties and sanctions. In addition, such third parties may not comply with applicable disclosure requirements, which could expose us to liability.

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System Interruption in Our Information Systems and Infrastructure including System Capacity Constraints May Harm Our Business.

We rely significantly on computer systems to manage consumer traffic to our websites and mobile platforms and facilitate and process transactions. We may in the future experience system interruptions that make some or all of these systems unavailable or prevent us from efficiently fulfilling bookings or providing services to our customers. Any interruptions, outages or delays in our systems, or deterioration in their performance, could impair our ability to process transactions and decrease the quality of our service to our customers.

Further, the consumer traffic to our websites and through our mobile platforms continues to increase. If our systems cannot be expanded to cope with increased demand or fail to perform, we could experience unanticipated disruptions in service, slower response times, decreased customer service and customer satisfaction and delays in the introduction of new services, any of which could impair our reputation, damage our brands and materially and adversely affect our results of operations. If we were to experience frequent or persistent system failures, our reputation and brands could be harmed.

Our computer hardware for operating our services are currently located at hosting facilities in India. While we have backup systems and contingency plans for critical aspects of our operations or business processes, certain other non-critical systems are not fully redundant and our disaster recovery or business continuity planning may not be sufficient. Fires, floods, power outages, telecommunications failures, earthquakes, acts of war or terrorism, acts of God, computer viruses, sabotage, break-ins and electronic intrusion attempts from both external and internal sources and similar events or disruptions may damage, impact or interrupt our computer or communications systems, business processes or infrastructure at any time. Although we have put measures in place to protect certain portions of our facilities and assets, any of these events could cause system interruptions, delays and loss of critical data, and could prevent us from providing services to our customers and/or suppliers for a significant period of time. We do not carry business interruption insurance for such eventualities. Remediation may be costly and we may not have adequate insurance to cover such costs. Moreover, the costs of enhancing infrastructure to attain improved stability and redundancy may be time consuming and expensive and may require resources and expertise that are difficult to obtain.

We Cannot Be Sure That Our Intellectual Property Is Protected from Copying or Use by Others, Including Current or Potential Competitors, and We May Be Subject to Third Party Claims for Intellectual Property Rights Infringement.

Our websites and mobile applications rely on content and in-house customizations and enhancements of third-party technology, much of which is not subject to intellectual property protection. We protect our logo, brand name, websites’ domain names and, to a more limited extent, our content by relying on copyrights, trademarks, trade secret laws and confidentiality agreements. Even with all of these precautions, it is possible for someone else to copy or otherwise obtain and use our content, techniques, and technology without our authorization or to develop similar technology. While our domain names cannot be copied, another party could create an alternative domain name resembling ours that could be passed off as our domain name. Effective trademark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which we operate offline or through the Internet, and policing unauthorized use of our content and technological customizations is difficult and expensive.

We have registered the domain names www.makemytrip.com, www.makemytrip.ae, www.makemytrip.com.sg, www.goibibo.com, and www.redbus.in, and have full legal rights over all these domain names for the period for which such domain names are registered. We primarily conduct our business under the “MakeMyTrip,” “Goibibo” and “redBus” brand names and logos. We have registered the trademark “MakeMyTrip,” “Goibibo” and “redBus” in India, Australia, Canada, certain member states of the European Union, Russia, Singapore, the USA and various other jurisdictions, and we have other trademark applications pending in these jurisdictions. We have also applied for patents in India for certain aspects of our technological systems.

Our key logos are also registered trademarks in India, including “MMT Black,” “MMT Double Black,” “MakeMyTripMyBusiness,” “GoContacts,” “GoCash,” “GoCashPlus,” “GoIbibo,” “Ibibo,” “MAKEMY,” and “redbus.in.”

In fiscal year 2020, a series of new trademark applications were filed, some of which have also got registered. We also filed a well-known mark application for the wordmark “MakeMyTrip” in India during fiscal year 2020. Additionally, to protect the marks of MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus, we file objections before the trademark registry from time to time against deceptively similar trademarks.

We cannot be sure that our trademarks or domain names will be protected to the same extent as in the countries in which they are already registered or that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation or

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infringement of what we consider our proprietary information. Such misappropriation or infringement could have a material adverse effect on our business. In the future, we may need to engage in litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation might result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

Third parties may assert that our services, products, and technology, including software, processes and domain names, violate their intellectual property rights. As competition in our industry increases and the functionality of technology offerings further overlaps, such claims and counterclaims could increase. There can be no assurance that we do not or will not inadvertently infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties. Any intellectual property claim against us, regardless of its merit, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and can be expensive and time consuming to defend. Our failure to prevail in such matters could result in loss of intellectual property rights, judgments awarding substantial damages and injunctive or other equitable relief against us, or require us to delay or cease offering services or reduce features in our services.

Our Business Experiences Seasonal Fluctuations and Quarter-to-Quarter Comparisons of Our Results May Not Be Meaningful.

Our business experiences seasonal fluctuations. We tend to experience higher revenue from our hotels and packages business in the second and fourth calendar quarters of each year, which coincide with the summer holiday travel season and the year-end holiday travel season for our customers in India and other markets. In our air ticketing business, we may have higher revenues in a particular quarters arising out of periodic discounted sales of tickets by our suppliers. Our bus ticketing business is less impacted by seasonality. As a result, quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results may not be meaningful. These seasonal trends may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing impact on the travel industry.

Changing Laws, Rules and Regulations and Legal Uncertainties in India, Including Adverse Application of Corporate and Tax Laws, May Adversely Affect Our Business and Financial Performance.

The regulatory and policy environment in which we operate is evolving and subject to change. Such changes, including the instances briefly mentioned below, may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, to the extent that we are unable to suitably respond to and comply with such changes in applicable law and policy. Changes in laws, rules or regulations may subject us to greater compliance costs and regulatory risks.

The Government of India has rolled out comprehensive national goods and services tax, or GST, law that combines taxes and levies by the Central and State Governments into a unified tax structure with effect from July 1, 2017. The implementation of GST has significant impact on overall tax computation and compliance. We have implemented necessary changes to our business processes, accounting and IT systems in compliance with GST law. We are also incurring additional tax compliance costs under the new tax law.

On May 10, 2016, a protocol for amendment of the India-Mauritius tax treaty was signed by India and Mauritius (which came into force on July 19, 2016) under which India gets the taxation rights on capital gains arising from alienation of shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017 in an Indian resident company. Further, in respect of such capital gains arising during the transition period beginning April 1, 2017 and ending March 31, 2019, the tax rate will be limited to 50% of the domestic tax rate in India on such gains subject to fulfillment of certain specified conditions. After March 31, 2019, the tax is charged at full domestic tax rates.

Further, the General Anti Avoidance Rules, or GAAR, came into effect on April 1, 2017. Any income accruing or arising from transfer of investments made before April 1, 2017 is exempted from GAAR provisions. It is also proposed that the relevant rules be amended to protect investments made up to March 31, 2017 from the applicability of GAAR. The tax consequences of the GAAR provisions being applied to an arrangement could result in denial of tax benefit amongst other consequences. In the absence of any precedents on the subject, the application of these provisions is uncertain. If the GAAR provisions are made applicable to our company, it may have an adverse tax impact on us.

We are subject to proceedings and notices under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, or the MV Act, challenging the status of our redBus business, and may be subject to similar challenges in future. “Item 8. Financial Information – Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information – Legal Proceedings – Other Proceedings – Writ petition filed in the Delhi High Court regarding applicability of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as amended, or the MV Act, to the redBus business.” In addition, amendments to the MV Act in 2019 introduced a license requirement for “aggregators”, defined as digital intermediaries or market places for passengers to connect with

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drivers for transportation. In the event our redBus business is deemed to require a license under any covered categories in the MV Act, we may be required to obtain a license and comply with conditions therein. Although we believe that our redBus business is compliant with applicable laws, depending on the outcome of the above-mentioned proceedings, as well as amendments to the MV Act or any other applicable laws, we may be required to adhere to additional compliance requirements.

In December 2019, the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 was tabled in the Indian Parliament by the Government of India and has currently been referred to a joint parliamentary committee. This bill proposes to provide mechanisms for the protection of personal data and establish a government authority for data protection. If this or similar legislation is enacted, we may incur additional compliance costs and it may affect us in other ways that we are currently unable to predict.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, along with the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, recently became effective and replaced the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, as amended. The new law and rules regulate matters relating to consumer rights, unfair trade practices and false or misleading advertising, and also establish regulatory authorities, including to address complaints, conduct investigations and adjudicate disputes. The rules impose obligations on marketplace and inventory e-commerce entities and sellers relating to the conduct of business and disclosure of information. We may incur increased compliance costs and may need to make changes to our business in order to comply with these new requirements, which may also require significant management time and other resources, and any failure to comply may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The growth and development of e-commerce may result in more stringent consumer protection laws that may impose additional burdens on Internet businesses generally. India’s Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry invited comments on a draft National e-Commerce Policy in 2019, which addresses topics, such as data and e-commerce regulation. The timing or impact of this policy, which remains in draft form, is not yet certain. Any such changes could have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance.

The impact of any or all of the above changes to Indian legislation on our business cannot be fully determined at this time. Additionally, our business and financial performance could be adversely affected by unfavorable changes in or interpretations of existing, or the promulgation of new, laws, rules and regulations applicable to us and our business, including those relating to the Internet and e-commerce, consumer protection and privacy. Such unfavorable changes could decrease demand for our services and products, increase costs and/or subject us to additional liabilities. For example, there may continue to be an increasing number of laws and regulations pertaining to the Internet and e-commerce, which may relate to liability for information retrieved from or transmitted over the Internet or mobile networks, user privacy, taxation and the quality of services provided through the Internet.

The application of various Indian and international sales, use, occupancy, value-added and other tax laws, rules and regulations to our services and products is subject to interpretation by the applicable taxing authorities. Many of the statutes and regulations that impose these taxes were established before the growth of the Internet, mobile networks and e-commerce. If such tax laws, rules and regulations are amended, new adverse laws, rules or regulations are adopted or current laws are interpreted adversely to our interests, particularly with respect to occupancy or value-added or other taxes, the results could increase our tax payments (prospectively or retrospectively) and/or subject us to penalties and, if we pass on such costs to our customers, decrease the demand for our services and products. As a result, any such changes or interpretations could have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance. In recent years, we have received notices from the Indian tax regulatory authority for a demand of service tax on certain matters, some of which relate to the travel industry in India and involve complex interpretation of law. We have also received notices and various assessment orders from the Indian income tax authorities, to which we have responded. There can be no assurance that the Indian tax authorities will not take a different view. See “Item 8. Financial Information — A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information — Legal Proceedings.”

We are subject to privacy regulations, and compliance with these regulations could impose significant compliance burdens.

In our processing of travel transactions, we receive and store a large volume of personally identifiable data. This data is increasingly subject to legislation and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world, such as the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000, as amended, which would subject us to civil liability to compensate for wrongful loss or gain arising from any negligence by us in implementing and maintaining reasonable security practices and procedures with respect to sensitive personal data or information that we possess in our computer systems, networks, databases and software. India has also implemented privacy laws, including the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or

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Information) Rules, 2011, which impose limitations and restrictions on the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.

Practices regarding the collection, use, storage, transmission and security of personal information by companies operating over the internet have recently come under increased public scrutiny around the world. In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation, requires companies to implement and remain compliant with regulations regarding the handling of personal data, including its use, protection and the ability of persons whose data is stored to correct or delete such data about themselves. Other countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America have passed or are considering similar privacy regulations, resulting in additional compliance burdens and uncertainty as to how some of these laws will be interpreted. Any liability we may incur for violation of such laws and regulations and related costs of compliance and other burdens may adversely affect our business and profitability. We could be adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded to require changes in our business practices or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that negatively affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. In India in December 2019, the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 was tabled in the Indian Parliament by the Government of India and has currently been referred to a joint parliamentary committee. This bill proposes to provide mechanisms for the protection of personal data and establish a government authority for data protection. If this or similar legislation is enacted, we may incur additional compliance costs and it may affect us in ways that we are currently unable to predict.

We are also subject to payment card association rules and obligations under our contracts with payment card processors. Under these rules and obligations, if information is compromised, we could be liable to payment card issuers for associated expenses and penalties. In addition, if we fail to follow payment card industry security standards, even if no customer information is compromised, we could incur significant fines or experience a significant increase in payment card transaction costs.

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Our Significant Shareholder Exercises Significant Influence over Our Company and May Have Interests That Are Different from Those of Our Other Shareholders.

As of March 31, 2020, Trip.com Group Limited (formerly known as Ctrip.com International, Limited), or Trip.com, beneficially owns 100.0% of our issued and outstanding Class B Shares and 48.85% of our aggregate ordinary shares and Class B Shares. For more information, see “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions” and “Item 10. Additional Information – B. Memorandum and Articles of Association – Amended and Restated Trip.com Investor Rights Agreement.”

Trip.com has the ability to exercise significant influence over our company and certain aspects of our affairs and business, including the election of directors, the timing and payment of dividends, the adoption and amendments to our Constitution, the approval of a merger or sale of substantially all our assets and the approval of most other actions requiring the approval of our shareholders. As a result of its ownership of our Class B Shares, Trip.com is entitled to nominate five directors to our board of directors (one of whom shall be a resident of Mauritius). So long as Trip.com beneficially owns 10% or more of our issued and outstanding voting securities (subject to adjustment for any share split, share dividend, recapitalization, reclassification or similar transaction in respect of any such ordinary shares), it will be entitled to nominate a number of directors to our board of directors in proportion to its beneficial ownership in our company. In addition, under the Amended and Restated Trip.com Investor Rights Agreement, one Independent Director must be appointed from a pool of candidates recommended by Trip.com and approved by Mr. Deep Kalra and Mr. Rajesh Magow, a majority of Independent Directors must be appointed from a pool of candidates approved by Mr. Deep Kalra, Mr. Rajesh Magow and a majority of the Trip.com directors and one of the investor directors designated by Trip.com shall be entitled to exercise the casting vote to which the chairman of the board of directors would otherwise have been entitled pursuant to Article 114 of our Constitution. Under the Amended and Restated Trip.com Investor Rights Agreement, Trip.com and its affiliates are not restricted from purchasing additional ordinary shares of MakeMyTrip on the open market and can further increase their ownership in MakeMyTrip  up to 74.9% under the Amended and Restated Trip.com Investor Rights Agreement, which means that Trip.com and its affiliates may acquire enough ordinary shares of MakeMyTrip to control more than a majority of our issued and outstanding voting securities and consequently the right to appoint a majority of our board of directors. In addition, important matters relating to MakeMyTrip which constitute Reserved Matters (as defined herein) must be approved by a majority of the total number of directors (including the Class B directors) and a majority of the Class B directors, which provides Trip.com and its affiliates with significant veto rights over such matters. The Terms of Issue governing the Class B Shares, or the Terms of Issue, also provide that certain transferees of Class B Shares may, subject to certain minimum ownership thresholds, acquire some of the same rights with respect to board representation and Reserved Matters that Trip.com currently has.

The interests of Trip.com and its affiliates may be different from or conflict with the interests of our other shareholders and their influence may result in the delay or prevention of a change of management or control of our company or other significant actions affecting our company, even if such transactions or actions may be beneficial to our other shareholders.

Our Ability to Attract, Train and Retain Executives and Other Qualified Employees Is Critical to Our Business, Results of Operations and Future Growth.

Our business and future success is substantially dependent on the continued services and performance of our key executives, senior management and personnel, including personnel with travel industry experience or expertise in information technology and systems, software services, engineering and financial services. Any of these individuals may choose to terminate their employment with us at any time. There is a limited pool of individuals who have the skills and training needed to help us grow our company, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to retain these employees or find adequate replacements, if at all. The specialized skills we require can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive to acquire and/or develop and, as a result, these skills are often in short supply. A lengthy period of time may be required to hire and train replacement personnel when skilled personnel depart our company. Our ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate our existing employees. We may be required to increase our levels of employee compensation more rapidly than in the past to remain competitive in attracting the quality of employees that our business requires. High attrition rates of qualified personnel could have an adverse effect on our ability to expand our business, as well as cause us to incur greater personnel expenses and training costs. If we do not succeed in attracting well-qualified employees or retaining or motivating existing employees, our business and prospects for growth could be adversely affected.

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Inaccurate Information from Suppliers May Lead to Customer Complaints.

Our customers may rely on the description of the products and services presented on our websites and platforms to ascertain the quality of the accommodation, service or other product. We receive information utilized in the descriptions on our websites and platforms directly from the accommodation or other provider. To the extent that the information presented on our websites and platforms does not reflect the actual quality of product or service, we may face customer complaints that may have an adverse effect on our reputation and the likelihood of repeat customers, which in turn may adversely affect our business.

Risks Related to Operations in India

A Substantial Portion of Our Business and Operations Are Located in India and We Are Subject to Regulatory, Economic, Social and Political Uncertainties in India.

A substantial portion of our business and most of our employees are located in India, and we intend to continue to develop and expand our business in India. Consequently, our financial performance and the market price of our ordinary shares will be affected by changes in exchange rates and controls, interest rates, volatility in and actual or perceived trends in trading activity on India’s principal stock exchanges, prevailing economic conditions, changes in government policies, including taxation policies and foreign investment policies, social and civil unrest and other political, social and economic developments in or affecting India.

The Government of India has exercised and continues to exercise significant influence over many aspects of the Indian economy. Since 1991, successive Indian governments have generally pursued policies of economic liberalization and financial sector reforms, including by significantly relaxing restrictions on the private sector. Nevertheless, the role of the Indian central and state governments in the Indian economy as producers, consumers and regulators has remained significant and we cannot assure you that such liberalization policies will continue. The rate of economic liberalization could change, and specific laws and policies affecting travel service companies, e-commerce, data, foreign investments, currency exchange rates and other matters affecting investments in India could change as well or be subject to unfavorable changes or interpretations or uncertainty, including by reason of limited administrative or judicial precedents. There can be no assurance that the Government of India may not implement new regulations and policies which will require us to obtain approvals and licenses or impose onerous requirements and conditions on our operations. A significant change in India’s policy of economic liberalization and deregulation or any social or political uncertainties could adversely affect business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

See also “— Changing Laws, Rules and Regulations and Legal Uncertainties in India, Including Adverse Application of Corporate and Tax Laws, May Adversely Affect Our Business and Financial Performance.”

As the Domestic Indian Market Constitutes a Significant Source of Our Revenue, a Slowdown in Economic Growth in India Could Cause Our Business to Suffer.

 

In fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020, 95.8%, 93.4% and 96.0%, respectively, of our revenue was derived directly from sales by our subsidiaries in India. The performance and growth of our business are necessarily dependent on economic conditions prevalent in India, which may be materially and adversely affected by political instability or regional conflicts, a general rise in interest rates, inflation, and economic slowdown elsewhere in the world or otherwise. The Indian economy has grown at a rapid rate in the last 15 years, but has experienced marginally slower GDP growth in the past three years. In 2019, India’s economy continued to decelerate from prior year’s growth due to liquidity challenges faced by non-bank financial institutions, which has driven a sharp decline in consumer spending across the country. The Indian economy grew at an estimated 5% in 2019 according to Moody’s Investors Service and has been further downgraded to growth at 2.5% for 2020, including due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown orders by the Government of India and state governments beginning in March 2020. Although we are optimistic that travel activity will rebound, we cannot predict whether or when travel booking levels will return to pre-COVID-19 levels. The Indian economy also remains largely driven by the performance of the agriculture sector which depends on external factors such as the quality of the monsoon season each year.

 

A change in government or in economic and deregulation policies could adversely affect economic conditions prevalent in the areas in which we operate our business. For example, in November 2016, the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India issued notifications withdrawing certain high-value denominations of currency notes as legal tender, which resulted in a short-term negative impact on the economy, including the travel industry. These and similar future measures may adversely affect India’s economy and growth rate. In the past, economic slowdowns in the Indian economy have harmed the travel industry as customers have less disposable income for their travels, especially holiday travel. Any slowdown in the Indian economy or increase in inflation could have a material adverse effect on the demand for the travel products we sell and, as a result, on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Trade deficits, any downgrading of India’s debt rating by a domestic or international rating agency or any changes in the rate of increase of Indian price inflation could also adversely affect our business and the price of our ordinary shares. India’s trade relationships with other countries and its trade deficit, driven to a major extent by global crude oil prices, may adversely affect Indian economic conditions. If trade deficits increase or are no longer manageable because of the rise in global crude oil prices or otherwise, the Indian economy, and therefore our business, our financial performance and the price of our ordinary shares could be adversely affected.

India also faces major challenges in sustaining its growth, which include the need for substantial infrastructure development and improving access to healthcare and education. If India’s economic growth cannot be sustained or otherwise slows down significantly our business and prospects could be adversely affected.

The Travel Industry in India is Susceptible to Extraneous Events Such As Terrorist Attacks and Other Acts of Violence, Which May Result in a Reduction in Travel Volumes to Affected Areas.

Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence or war, such as the terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels and the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2017, in Jammu and Kashmir, India and in Sri Lanka in 2019, as well as other neighboring countries may adversely affect the Indian markets and the worldwide financial markets. As many terrorist attacks tend to be focused on tourists or tourist destinations, such acts may also result in a reduction in confidence in the Indian travel industry and could adversely impact our business and prospects. In addition, any deterioration in international relations between India and other countries may result in concerns regarding regional stability which could adversely affect the price of our ordinary shares. The occurrence of any of these events may result in a loss of business confidence and have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance.

South Asia has also experienced instances of civil unrest and hostilities among neighboring countries from time to time, including between India and Pakistan and China. There have also been incidents in and near India such as terrorist attacks, precision strikes or incursions and troop mobilizations along the border. Such military activity, terrorist attacks or other adverse social, economic and political events in India in the future could adversely affect the Indian economy by disrupting communications and making travel more difficult. Resulting political tensions could create a greater perception that investments in Indian companies or travel to affected regions involve a high degree of risk and could have an adverse impact on our business and the price of our ordinary shares. Furthermore, if India were to become engaged in armed hostilities, we might not be able to continue our operations. While we maintain insurance for losses arising from terrorist activities, our insurance policies do not cover business interruptions from terrorist attacks or for other reasons.

Natural Calamities, Outbreak of Epidemics and Other Disruptions Could Have a Negative Impact on the Indian Economy and Cause Our Business to Suffer.

 

India has experienced natural calamities such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and drought in the past few years. For example, in September 2014, the state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India, a popular tourism destination, experienced widespread floods and landslides, in April 2015, an earthquake occurred in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal with aftershocks and landslides subsequently affecting the country and floods affected the Chennai region in December 2015 and Kerala in August 2018 and West Bengal and Odisha were affected by a cyclone in May 2020. These types of natural disasters can have an adverse impact on economic activity and travel demand in affected areas or nationwide. The outbreak of pandemics or epidemics could have a material adverse effect on the Indian economy and our business. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns and economic disruptions have had a significant negative impact on the travel industry in India, including our business, and around the world. For more information, see “– The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to have, a material adverse effect on the travel industry and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.” Substantially all of our operations and employees are located in India and there can be no assurance that we will not be affected by natural disasters, epidemics or disruptions or epidemics in the future. The occurrence of such events in the future could have an adverse impact on our business and financial performance.

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Restrictions on Foreign Investment in India May Prevent or Delay Future Acquisitions or Investments By Us in India, and May Require Us to Make Changes to Our Business, Which May Adversely Affect Our Business and Financial Performance.

India regulates ownership of Indian companies by foreigners, although some restrictions on foreign investment have been relaxed in recent years. These regulations and restrictions may apply to acquisitions by us or our affiliates, including MMT India, Ibibo India and affiliates which are not resident in India, of shares in Indian companies or the provision of funding by us or any other entity to Indian companies within our group. For example, under the Government of India’s consolidated foreign direct investment policy, or FDI policy, and India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, or FEMA, additional requirements are applicable to foreign investments in India, including requirements with respect to downstream investments by Indian companies owned or controlled by foreign entities, and the transfer of ownership or control of Indian companies in sectors with caps on foreign investment from resident Indian persons or entities to foreigners, as well as such transactions between foreigners. These requirements, which include restrictions on pricing, valuations of shares and sources of funding for such investments and may in certain cases include prior notice to or approval of the Government of India, may adversely affect our ability to make investments in India.

In addition, pursuant to amendments in April 2020 to the FDI policy and FEMA rules, prior government approval will be required for any non-debt investment into India by non-resident entities from countries that share a land border with India or where the beneficial owner of such an investment is situated in or is a citizen of any such country, as well as for any transfer of any such proposed or past non-debt investment, directly or indirectly, that would result in ownership by any such non-resident entity or beneficial owner. The list of border countries includes the People’s Republic of China. This approval requirement applies to investments in all sectors, including those that previously did not require such approval, such as travel and tourism.  The term “beneficial owner” has not yet been defined under the amended rules.  If we are deemed to be a non-resident entity or an entity with a beneficial owner restricted by these amendments, prior government approval will be required for investments in non-debt instruments in our direct and indirect Indian subsidiaries and group entities, including MMT India and Ibibo India, as well as for any such proposed investments or acquisitions by us or our affiliates, including MMT India, Ibibo India and affiliates which are not resident in India. Further, under the FEMA, we are restricted from lending to or borrowing from our Indian subsidiaries and our Indian subsidiaries are restricted from lending or borrowing in foreign currencies. We are also required to complete FEMA filings with respect to past investments in order to make further investments in India. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain any required approvals for future acquisitions or investments in India, including in our Indian subsidiaries and group entities, or that we will be able to obtain such approvals in a timely manner, on satisfactory terms or at all. Under the FEMA, the Reserve Bank of India has the power to impose monetary penalties, including of up to three times the value of a FEMA violation, where quantifiable, and confiscate the shares at issue.

Further, the Government of India has made and may continue to make revisions to the FDI policy on e-commerce in India, including in relation to business model, inventory, pricing and permitted services. India’s Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry invited comments on a draft National e-Commerce Policy in 2019, which addresses topics such as data and e-commerce regulation. The timing or impact of this policy, which remains in draft form, is not yet certain. Such changes may require us to make changes to our business in order to comply with Indian law.  

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Our Business and Activities Are Regulated by the Competition Act, 2002.

The Competition Act, 2002, as amended, or the Competition Act, regulates practices that could have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. Under the Competition Act, any arrangement, understanding or action, whether formal or informal, which causes or is likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India is void and may result in substantial penalties and compensation to be paid to persons shown to have suffered losses. Any agreement among competitors which directly or indirectly determines purchase or sale prices, results in bid rigging or collusive bidding, limits or controls production, supply, markets, technical development, investment or the provision of services, or shares the market or source of production or provision of services in any manner, including by way of allocation of geographical area or types of goods or services or number of customers in the market, is presumed to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition. Further, the Competition Act prohibits the abuse of a dominant position by any enterprise either directly or indirectly, including by way of unfair or discriminatory pricing or conditions in the sale of goods or services, using a dominant position in one relevant market to enter into, or protect, another relevant market, and denial of market access, and such practices are subject to substantial penalties and may also be subject to compensation for losses and orders to divide the enterprise. Further, the Competition Commission of India, or the Competition Commission, has extraterritorial powers and can investigate any agreements, abusive conduct or combination occurring outside India if such agreement, conduct or combination has, or is likely to have, an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.

If we or any member of our group, including MMT India or Ibibo India, are affected, directly or indirectly, by the application or interpretation of any provision of the Competition Act or any proceedings initiated by the Competition Commission or any other relevant authority (or any other claim by any other party under the Competition Act) or any adverse publicity that may be generated due to scrutiny or prosecution under the Competition Act, including by way of financial penalties, our business, financial performance and reputation may be materially and adversely affected. In April 2019, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, or the FHRAI, filed an information against MMT India, Ibibo India and a third party, namely Oravel Stays Private Limited, or OYO, under Sections 3 and 4 read with Sections 19 and 33 of the Competition Act before the Competition Commission. FHRAI alleged that MMT India, Ibibo India and OYO abused dominant positions, including by charging exorbitant commissions to hoteliers, and cartelization. In October 2019, following a preliminary hearing, the Competition Commission passed a prima facie order directing an investigation against MMT India, Ibibo India and OYO in relation to the matter. In February 2020, pursuant to a separate information filed by the operator of Treebo Hotels alleging abuse of dominant position by MMT India and an anti-competitive agreement between MMT India and OYO, the Competition Commission passed a prima facie order directing an investigation into the matter, together with the FHRAI matter. The Competition Commission’s orders state that they are not “tantamount to an expression of final opinion on the merits of the case.” MMT India and Ibibo India are cooperating with the investigation, and the matters are ongoing.

Acquisitions, mergers and amalgamations which exceed certain revenue and asset thresholds require prior approval by the Competition Commission. Any such acquisitions, mergers or amalgamations which have, or are likely to have, an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India are prohibited and void. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain approval for such future transactions on satisfactory terms, or at all.

Our Investors May Be Subject to Indian Taxes on Income Arising Through the Sale of Our Ordinary Shares.

Amendments introduced in 2012 to the Income Tax Act, 1961, as amended, provide that income arising directly or indirectly through the sale of a capital asset, including any shares or interest in a company incorporated outside of India, will be subject to tax in India, if such shares or interest directly or indirectly derive their value substantially from assets located in India, irrespective of whether the seller of such shares has a residence, place of business, business connection, or any other presence in India. Through amendments introduced in 2015 to the Income Tax Act, 1961, the word “substantially” has been defined and investors may be subject to Indian income taxes on the income arising directly or indirectly through the sale of our ordinary shares subject to the provisions of double taxation avoidance agreements that India has entered into with other countries. Further, the amendments also contain an exemption with respect to alienation of shares by a transferor-investor whose voting rights or share capital, at any time during twelve-month period preceding the date of sale, does not exceed 5% of the total voting rights or share capital in the company, provided such transferor-investor is not vested with rights of management or control in any other form.

On May 10, 2016, a protocol for amendment of the India-Mauritius tax treaty was signed by India and Mauritius (which came into force on July 19, 2016) under which India is entitled to taxation rights on capital gains arising from alienation of shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017 in an Indian resident company. Further, in respect of such capital gains arising during the transition period beginning April 1, 2017 and ending March 31, 2019, the tax rate will be limited to 50% of the domestic tax rate in India on such gains, subject to fulfillment of certain specified conditions. After March 31, 2019 the tax is charged at full domestic tax rates.

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Risks Related to Investments in Mauritian Companies

As Our Shareholder, You May Have Greater Difficulties in Protecting Your Interests Than As a Shareholder of a United States Corporation.

We are incorporated under the laws of Mauritius. The laws generally applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders may provide shareholders of United States corporations with rights and protection for which there may be no corresponding or similar provisions under the Companies Act 2001 of Mauritius, as amended, or the Mauritius Companies Act. As such, if you invest in our ordinary shares, you may or may not be accorded the same level of shareholder rights and protection that a shareholder of a United States corporation may be accorded under the laws generally applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Taken together with the provisions of our Constitution, some of these differences may result in your having greater difficulties in protecting your interests as our shareholder than you would have as a shareholder of a United States corporation. This affects, among other things, the circumstances under which transactions involving an interested director are voidable, whether an interested director can be held accountable for any benefit realized in a transaction with us, what rights you may have as a shareholder to enforce specified provisions of the Mauritius Companies Act or our Constitution, and the circumstances under which we may indemnify our directors and officers.

We May Become Subject to Unanticipated Tax Liabilities That May Have a Material Adverse Effect on Our Results of Operations.

We are a Mauritius Global Business License Company and are tax resident in Mauritius. The Income Tax Act 1995 of Mauritius imposes a tax in Mauritius on the chargeable income of our company at the rate of 15.0%. However, under the Income Tax (Foreign Tax Credit) Regulations 1996 of Mauritius, subject to the Income Tax Act 1995 and the regulations under the Income Tax (Foreign Tax Credit) Regulations 1996, a credit is allowed for foreign tax on the foreign source income of a resident of Mauritius against Mauritius tax computed by reference to the same income, the Deemed Foreign Tax Credit, and where a credit is allowed against Mauritius tax chargeable in respect of any income, the amount of Mauritius tax so chargeable shall be reduced by the amount of the credit. Under the Income Tax Act 1995, “foreign source income” means income which is not derived from Mauritius and includes, in the case of a corporation holding a Category 1 Global Business License under the Financial Services Act 2007 of Mauritius, income derived from its transactions with non-residents or corporations holding a Category 1 Global Business License under the Financial Services Act. Subject to the provisions of the Income Tax (Foreign Tax Credit) Regulations 1996, no credit is allowed in respect of foreign tax unless written evidence is presented to the Mauritius Revenue Authority showing the amount of foreign tax which has been charged. For this purpose, “written evidence” includes a receipt of the relevant authorities of the foreign country for the foreign tax or any other evidence that the foreign tax has been deducted or paid to the relevant authorities of that country. However, pursuant to regulation 8 of the Income Tax (Foreign Tax Credit) Regulations 1996, if written evidence is not presented to the Mauritius Revenue Authority showing the amount of foreign tax charged on our company’s foreign source income, the amount of foreign tax shall nevertheless be conclusively presumed to be equal to 80.0% of the Mauritius tax chargeable with respect to that income and in such circumstance, the effective tax rate in Mauritius on our company’s chargeable income would be 3.0%.

As of January 1, 2019, the Category 1 Global Business License has been renamed as the Global Business License and companies holding the Category 1 Global Business License will be grandfathered until June 30, 2021 (provided the license was issued on or before October 16, 2017) or December 31, 2018 (in all other cases).

However effective from January 1, 2019, the Deemed Foreign Tax Credit was abolished and “Global Business Companies” are now taxed at the rate of 15%. A partial exemption regime has been introduced with 80% of the following income streams being exempted from tax:

 

Foreign dividends (subject to such an amount not being treated as an allowable deduction in the source country)

 

Foreign source interest income

 

Profit attributable to a permanent establishment of a resident company in a foreign company;

 

Foreign source income derived by a collective investment scheme, or CIS, closed end fund, CIS manager, CIS administrator, investment adviser or asset manager licensed or approved by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission; and

 

Income derived by companies engaged in ship and aircraft leasing.

The Deemed Foreign Tax credit will continue to apply until the relevant grandfathering dates.

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Our company holds a specific Tax Residence Certificate for India, valid until May 4, 2021 and a general Tax Residence Certificate for all jurisdictions, valid until May 8, 2021, from the Mauritius Revenue Authority, as per the guidelines prescribed by the Mauritius Revenue Authority. These tax residence certificates are renewed annually.

We believe that a significant portion of the income derived from our operations will not be subject to tax in countries in which we conduct activities or in which our customers are located, other than Mauritius, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the United States. However, this belief is based on the anticipated nature and conduct of our business, which may change. It is also based on our understanding of our position under the tax laws of the countries in which we have assets or conduct activities. This position is subject to review and possible challenge by taxing authorities and to possible changes in law that may have retroactive effect. Our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected if we become subject to a significant amount of unanticipated tax liabilities.

Risks Related to Our Ordinary Shares

Investors May Have Difficulty Enforcing Judgments against Us, Our Directors and Management.

We are incorporated under the laws of Mauritius. Further, we conduct substantially all of our operations in India through our key operating subsidiaries in India. The majority of our directors and officers, and some of the experts named in this Annual Report, reside outside the United States, and a majority of our assets and some or all of the assets of such persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible to effect service of process within the United States upon us or those persons, or to recover against us or them on judgments of United States courts, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the United States federal securities laws. An award of punitive damages under a United States court judgment based upon United States federal securities laws is likely to be construed by Mauritian and Indian courts to be penal in nature and therefore unenforceable in both Mauritius and India. Further, no claim may be brought in Mauritius or India against us or our directors and officers in the first instance for violation of United States federal securities laws because these laws have no extraterritorial application under Mauritian or Indian law and do not have force of law in Mauritius or India. However, a Mauritian or Indian court may impose civil liability, including the possibility of monetary damages, on us or our directors and officers if the facts alleged in a complaint constitute or give rise to a cause of action under Mauritian or Indian law. Moreover, it is unlikely that a court in Mauritius or India would award damages on the same basis as a foreign court if an action were brought in Mauritius or India or that a Mauritian or Indian court would enforce foreign judgments if it viewed the amount of damages as excessive or inconsistent with Mauritius or Indian practice or public policy.

The courts of Mauritius or India would not automatically enforce judgments of United States courts obtained in actions against us or our directors and officers, or some of the experts named herein, predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the United States federal securities laws, or entertain actions brought in Mauritius or India against us or such persons predicated solely upon United States federal securities laws. Further, there is no treaty in effect between the United States and Mauritius providing for the enforcement of judgments of United States courts in civil and commercial matters and the United States has not been declared by the Government of India to be a reciprocating territory for the purposes of enforcement of foreign judgments, and there are grounds upon which Mauritian or Indian courts may decline to enforce the judgments of United States courts. A judgment of courts in the United States may be enforced in India only by a fresh suit upon the foreign judgment and not by proceedings in execution. Some remedies available under the laws of United States jurisdictions, including remedies available under the United States federal securities laws, may not be allowed in Mauritian or Indian courts if contrary to public policy in Mauritius or India. Because judgments of United States courts are not automatically enforceable in Mauritius or India, it may be difficult for you to recover against us or our directors and officers or some experts named in this Annual Report based upon such judgments. In India, prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India is required in order to repatriate any amount recovered pursuant to such judgments.

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As a Foreign Private Issuer, We are Permitted to, and We Will, Follow Certain Home Country Corporate Governance Practices in Lieu of Certain Nasdaq Requirements Applicable to US Issuers. This May Afford Less Protection to Holders of Our Ordinary Shares.

As a foreign private issuer whose ordinary shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market, we are permitted to, and we will, follow certain home country corporate governance practices in lieu of certain Nasdaq Marketplace Rules, or the Nasdaq Rules. A foreign private issuer must disclose in its Annual Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, each Nasdaq Rule with which it does not comply followed by a description of its applicable home country practice. As a company incorporated in Mauritius and listed on the Nasdaq Global Ma