Cash-Strapped Dunzo Further Delays Salary For Employees

Amid a funding crunch, quick commerce platform Dunzo has once again deferred salary payments to its employees by over a month.

As per an internal email sent to employees, Dunzo would now pay the remaining portion of June salaries of its employees, which was earlier expected to be credited by July 20, in early September.

Inc42 has reviewed the internal email.

“For those team members who were expecting the balance payouts of their June salary during this week, we regret to inform you that this has been delayed. The pending salaries for June will now be paid on September 4, 2023,” the email said. 

“Additionally, the July salary for all team members will be paid only on September 4 along with the August salary. While we have set September 4 as the date for all pending salary payouts, we are working to resolve this issue at the earliest to minimize the impact on our team members,” the startup added.

Moneycontrol was the first to publish the development. Dunzo declined to comment Inc42’s query on the latest development, 

Last week, it was reported that the Reliance-backed startup had deferred the salary payments to its managers. The Bengaluru-based startup deferred the June salaries for about 500 employees, or around 50% of its total workforce. Dunzo reportedly kept the salaries of those employees on hold who earn above INR 75,000 per month.

Amid these problems, several employees have started tendering their resignations over the last few days, as per sources. In April this year, Dunzo laid off 30% of its total employees, impacting around 300 people.

Dunzo is now reportedly seeking a cash infusion of another $20 Mn from its largest shareholder Reliance Retail.

Earlier this year, reports said that the startup was in talks to raise up to $100 Mn (INR 825 Cr) through convertible notes. 

Dunzo is also pivoting its business from a dark store-centric quick commerce platform to bringing larger supermarkets and grocery stores on the platform on a revenue-sharing basis.