Askme.com employees, sellers hold protest outside Gurugram office over non-payment of dues
Askme.com put its operations on hold last week, citing severe cash crunch in the company.
E-commerce portal Askme.com suspended its operations last week, citing a severe cash crunch in the company, after its major shareholder pulled out.
While media reports suggest that the move will impact nearly 4,000 jobs, an employee of the company said that they had received no communication from the company about any possible lay-offs.
On Monday, several employees and sellers held a protest outside the company's office in Gurugram.
“As of now, there is a temporary suspension of operations and we have not been paid our salaries,” the employee said, on the condition of anonymity.
Askme.com failed to pay salaries to its employees and even make payments to its vendors, after its main investor, Malaysia-based Astro Overseas pulled out last month without paying the last tranche of funds to the company.
The aforementioned employee told dna, “We have not been paid our July salaries and many employees have not received their reimbursements since the beginning of the financial year.”
Disgruntled employees and vendors of the e-portal held a protest outside the Gurugram office, a video of which was sent to and has been seen by dna. The person leading the protest is reportedly a seller, and can be seen seeking intervention into the unceremonious closure of the company which will impact many people.
The protesters held banners which read 'Please don't spoil a thousand families; give our lifetime earnings back.'
Another visible banner reads, 'Loans and interests are eating us alive. Please pay vendor's money.'
The protesters appealed to the company to pay back their dues to protect the wajood (existence) of the employees. “There's no telling what their wajood (existence) will be in the country given that Astro (Overseas) is a foreign investment,” he said.
Astro Overseas said it will seek a forensic audit into the books of Askme's parent Getit Infoservices, but, in the video, the seller is seen saying that they had no idea what the outcome of the audit would be and what the communication was, with the company.
"Operations were put on hold last Wednesday, since then there is no communication after that whether Astro will pay the dues or not. We are hearing from the news reports that the management has resigned. We haven't been told anything," the employee said.