KOLKATA: TikTok’s parent company ByteDance continues to remain in limbo as Bombay high court granted no relief in the case where the company challenged Indian authorities’ decision to freeze the its bank accounts.

According to a Reuters report, the court heard the plea on Wednesday. Despite ByteDance counsel Prakash Shah submitting that the company was bleeding and needed to withdraw funds for operational expenditures like staff salaries and rent, the court gave no relief.

Shah also added that four of the company’s bank accounts have been frozen. The next hearing in the matter is set for 6 April.

According to media reports, In mid-March, authorities ordered ByteDance India's accounts at Citibank and HSBC to be blocked because of alleged evasion of certain taxes in online advertising dealings between the ByteDance unit in India and its parent entity in Singapore, TikTok Pvt Ltd. The Chinese tech company moved to court asking to quash the directive as it fears that the move will hit Indian operations hard.

In January 2021, ByteDance decided to cut down its Indian workforce amid the uncertainty over its biggest business TikTok’s future in India. Following the political conflict between India and China, the Centre imposed a ban on a number of Chinese apps including short-video app TikTok last June.