Dunzo Defers Employee Salaries Yet Again, Sets October As New Deadline

Troubled quick commerce major Dunzo has reportedly yet again deferred payment of salaries to its employees by another month. 

As per an internal email seen by Moneycontrol, the startup has told employees that it will transfer their pending payments by the end the first week of October. The company had earlier told its employees that their June and July salaries would be cleared by September.

As per the report, the company has also promised to pay an interest of 12% per annum on pending dues. 

“Please note that pending salaries for the months of June and July, due to be paid on September 4th, will be paid in the first week of October. You will receive the salary dues along with a 12 percent p.a. interest, which will now be calculated for an additional month,” said the email. 

While ‘apologising’ for the delay, the company said that crediting pending compensation ‘as early as possible’ is its ‘top priority.’ Dunzo added that it is doing ‘everything’ to clear dues and is ‘confident’ that there would be no further delays. 

This is the third major delay by the quick commerce startup in releasing the salaries of its employees. Prior to the September 4 deadline, Dunzo also missed the July 20 threshold set for clearing the pending employee salaries. 

In July, Inc42 reported that the Reliance-backed startup postponed the payment of salaries to 500 employees, or 50% of its total workforce, and capped salary payouts at INR 75,000 per month per employee. As a row broke out, the company held a town hall with employees and promised them that their pending salaries would be cleared by September 4.

Amid a funding crisis and resignations of employees, the startup undertook mass layoffs and culled 30% of its total workforce, amounting to about 300 employees. 

Amid all this, the company is also facing legal notices from seven vendors for non-payment of dues to the tune of more than INR 11 Cr. It has also begun cost-cutting measures across the board, ranging from shutting most of its dark stores to pivoting to a marketplace model. 

It has also been knocking at the doors of investors seeking cash infusion. Earlier this month, Inc42 exclusively reported that the beleaguered startup was in advanced talks to raise $100 Mn as part of its Series G funding round, which would be a mix of equity and debt, from existing investors, including Lightbox and Lightrock.