Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Commitments and Contingencies

13. Commitments and Contingencies

As of December 31, 2013, Syntel’s subsidiaries have commitments for capital expenditures (net of advances) of $36.0 million primarily related to the technology campuses being constructed at Pune and Chennai in India.

Syntel’s Indian subsidiaries’ operations are carried out from their development centers/units in Mumbai forming part of a Special Economic Zone (“SEZ”) and in Chennai and Pune, which are registered under the Software Technology Parks (“STP”) scheme. Under these schemes, the registered units have export obligations, which are based on the formula provided by the notifications/circulars issued by the STP and SEZ authorities from time to time. The consequence of not meeting the above commitments would be a retroactive levy of import duty on items previously imported duty free for these units. Additionally, the respective authorities have rights to levy penalties for any defaults on a case-by-case basis. The Company is confident of meeting these obligations.

The Company is party to various legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business, including litigation and governmental and regulatory controls. The Company has not accrued any liability for legal contingencies as no legal contingency has been deemed to be probable of occurring. The Company’s estimates regarding legal contingencies are based on information known about the matters and its experience in contesting, litigating and settling similar matters. It is the opinion of management with respect to pending or threatened litigation matters that unfavorable outcomes are neither probable nor remote and that estimates of possible loss are not able to be made. Although actual amounts could differ from management’s estimate, none of the actions are believed by management to involve future amounts that would be material to the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

The Company estimates the costs associated with known legal exposures and their related legal expenses and accrues reserves for either the probable liability, if that amount can be reasonably estimated, or otherwise the lower end of an estimated range of potential liability. The accrual related to litigation at December 31, 2013 and 2012 was null.

The Company is in litigation with one former customer for which certain IT services had been performed. There is a dispute regarding the IT services performed. The contract with the former customer contains a limitation of liability clause that limits the Company’s liability to the amount of the holdback the former customer has retained, amounting to approximately $0.3 million. The Company believes it has meritorious defenses against any claim of liability and will vigorously defend any such claim if raised. The Company does not believe this matter will have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.