Writes to Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to halt "winding up" of Getit Infoservices and save 4,000 jobs; asks the ministry to facilitate askme.com to buy out the 98.5% shareholding of Malaysian investor in the group
Around 4,000 employees of Getit Infoservices Private Ltd, which operates e-commerce businesses under AskMe brand and is on the verge of closure, have got a knight in shining armour in Rajya Sabha member of parliament (MP) Subramanian Swamy.
In what is being seen as a Kingfisher-style closure of operations, AskMe employees have not been paid salaries for last two months and its various marketplace platforms owe to statutory authorities, vendors and creditors.
On Friday, Swamy wrote to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) secretary Tapan Ray, urging him to intervene in the matter. dna has a copy of that letter.
And in a veiled threat to the ministry, he said, "Kindly treat this matter as most urgent since it may become a part of court proceedings in the future."
The Rajya Sabha MP, who recently precipitated the exit of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan by verbally attacking him in the media, noted in the letter that the whole issue should be treated as urgent as it "will become infructuous after August 31".
"Since the matter is urgent and will become infructuous after August 31, I urge you to intervene and ask the directors of the askme.com/Getit Infoservices not to proceed with winding up their company and throw out of work about 4,000 employees, but instead that government should consider to assist askme.com to buy out the 98.5% shareholding of Astro Overseas Ltd of Malaysia," he wrote.
Earlier this month, the management of Getit had written to MCA and Registrar of Companies asking them to ensure that AOL does not flee the country without meeting its liabilities.
The BJP politician further said that he was "party" in legal cases related to other ventures of AOL in India.
Getit Infoservices, in which Malaysian Astro Overseas Limited's (AOL) investment vehicle Astro Entertainment Network Ltd (AENL) owns 98.5%, shut down all its commercial operations from this month and has asked its employees to work from home and its delivery and procurement boys to stop working from August 31.
All AskMe marketplaces – AskMeBazaar, AskMeGrocery, AskMeFurniture, AskMeFin and others – have been closed down as the Malaysian investor has refused to pump in any more funds. AENL claims it has already invested close to $300 million.
The key management personnel (KMP) and minority shareholders of the group had suggested a management buyout (MBO) instead of shuttering of operations. They have written several letters to its investors, wherein they have listed various ways of reviving the company.
A statement issued by AENL's parent AOL had said its auditors had found Getit "insolvent" and beyond turnaround.
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 "Subramanian Swamy")
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