Seems the charming Ranbir Kapoor and Bollywood queen Kangana Ranaut can’t save the company. The intense competition in the Indian e-commerce sector has got a prominent player to exit the market.
One of India’s emerging hyperlocal businesses-focused e-commerce store AskMe.com (askmebazaar.com) seems to shut down it shop. The company has temporarily suspended all its operation and all employees have been laid off.
Despite the shutdown, it seems you can still browse around for products on the e-commerce website. But when you proceed to buy an item, it will throw up a message saying “We are not accepting any orders at this moment. We will be back soon. Thanks“.
More than 650 employees across its 40 offices in India has been laid off. According to media reports, employees were not paid for more than two months.
“Astro, which holds a majority share in the company, is seemingly no longer interested in funding Getit Infomedia (the parent company of AskMe),” said an employee. “the last time Astro invested over Rs 150 crore in Getit, it had to jump through hoops but since then the group company has struggled to establish a foothold in the market” he added.
Malaysia-based Astro holds around 98.5% stake in AskMe Group. According to reports, the holding group seems to have dues of Rs 300 crore. AskMe employees have raised complaints with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the Registrar of Companies (RoC) to ensure that Astro does not exit the business without paying its liabilities.