Askme Group shuts operations, leaving employees jobless

NEW DELHI: E-tailer Askme, owned by Malaysia’s Astro Consulting, shut down its operations on Wednesday, affecting at least 2,000 employees and businesses, including AskMe Grocery, Askmebazaar.com and Askme.com. The shutdown may be temporary, but things are not clear.

HT had reported on July 1 that the company was edging towards a shutdown.

Senior managers of the company said they have not been paid their salaries since July, reimbursements had stopped in March. Those who resigned after March have not been given their full and final settlement. They have been relieved immediately, without notice or handover.

“Astro, which owns 99% of Askme through various shell companies, is trying to flee the country without paying employees and vendors and statutory authorities in Askme and other companies. They are already charge-sheeted for fraud and arm twisting by CBI and ED in the 2G case. We request Indian authorities to ask Astro to pay their dues as per written commitments,” Askme told HT in an email.

“Astro Entertainment Networks Ltd has, since 2010, invested nearly $300 million in Getit InfoServices Pvt Ltd to keep the business afloat during volatile market conditions. Unfortunately, Getit (Askme’s parent) has not been able to make its business profitable and sustainable despite these huge investments by AENL. An independent review by advisers has concluded that there is little prospect for turnaround. AENL intends to appoint a forensic auditor to review Getit’s books and will take appropriate steps based on the results of the audit,” Astro Consulting said in a statement .

An executive of Askme said on the condition of anonymity: “The company owes at least ₹300 crore to employees, sellers and vendors. Cabs and shuttle services have already been stopped by vendors. On August 18, some grocery vendors barged into Bangalore’s Askme office looking for someone senior.”

A letter from Group CFO Anand Sonbhadra to employees, of which HT has a copy, says: “Given the current financial situation...to ensure prevention of any further liabilities, the respective departments were asked to disable all transaction/ payment options on the websites ... Stop intake of orders and registrations... and temporarily close all hubs and as many offices as possible. Non-payment of salaries to delivery boys and lower staff may cause them to take inappropriate actions at hubs, hence we need to prevent any untoward incident as well protect assets at hubs.”

The letter came as a shock to employees, who hoped to get their salaries this month after a review meeting held last week.

Some employees said Askme has been facing financial difficulties since April, when it laid off more than 600 employees, though till June salaries were regular.

Employees have not received an email from the company asking them to stop coming to work. However, customers cannot place orders online, as this reporter verified.

A top official of the company said the human resources person stopped coming to work the day the operations were suspended. “We don’t have a clue about the compensation as the HR was also working here on contract, so, the day this mail came to us, the HR has stopped coming to work. Informally, we know that we will have to start looking for jobs.”