'I might have to sell my house to pay debt': AskMe seller

Shreshtha Sahamoneycontrol.comEven a month after shutting down its operations, controversies surrounding the AskMe Group refuse to die down.Multiple vendors, moneycontrol.com talked to, have alleged that Askmebazaar, the e-commerce portal of the group was never a serious competitor in the e-tailing business.One Surat-based vendor who sold ayurvedic oils on the platform, said that Askme owes him over Rs 30 lakh and he had taken a credit for that period and supplied to the online buyers, on payment assurance by Askme, written on the seller contract. “I might have to sell my house to pay back the debtors. My family is in severe financial distress,” a seller told moneycontrol.com. According to Navneet Singh Manchanda, who runs an electronic appliance trading business and was a vendor on the platform, executives at the organisation had a laid back attitude and the vendors were never paid on time.The fact that Askmebazaar had shortage of funds started becoming evident to the vendors as early as November-December, when their payments started getting delayed. However, when the vendors expressed concern, they were assured by Sanjiv Gupta managing director of Getit Infoservices Private Limited, which runs AskMe, that the business was as usual and there was no need to worry.According to Manchanda, unlike any other e-commerce company, Askmebazaar also had a policy where every new vendor was asked to pay a lakh or two before they started to trade with them. He alleges that this Askmebazaar's trick to take money from vendors who were relatively new in the market.According to him, every vendor had an agreement signed with Askmebazaar that stated “the company will pay the vendors after every 15 days” but such a commitment was never fulfilled.After the fallout, the vendors union was made and they went to Economic Offences Wing on August 27, 2016. According to him, there they weren’t taken seriously.The vendors were accused of hooliganism but after some time their issue was heard and they were asked to come back on October 17, 2016.Askmebazaar has always been very callous in their approach and didn’t pay on time. Manchanda also alleged that when the vendors went to file an FIR to the police station, the police too refused demanding more proof. Some vendors alleged that the police was egged by pressure from Gupta, and his cousin Sidharth Gupta, a director and co-founder of GetitBazaar Infoservices. As per multiple reports, Gupta has now asked the vendors to directly go to investor Astro Entertainment Networks Ltd and demand their payment.Besides Askmebazaar, AskMe Group runs deals portal AskMe.com, grocery marketplace AskMeGrocery, furniture and home décor portal Mebelkart. The group suspended operations last month, citing shortage of funds.It has accused, Astro which owns 99% in the group of not making payments. Astro on the other hand has stated that it has invested $300 million in Getit Infoservices Private Limited criticising the group for not been able to make its business profitable.The whole issue has left around 4,000 employees stranded and multiple vendors without payments.The group owes at least Rs 300 crore to creditors, which is unlikely to be paid now with the company almost bankrupt.Also read: How the AskMeBazaar scam unfolded'Am no longer an employee, have quit': AskMeBazaar CEOWith no management, employees can’t even resign or get fired!In dire straits: Employees threaten suicide in emails to CMDAskMe scaled too fast and ran out of money