Ex-employees of Dunzo seek Karnataka labour department intervention for settlement of long-pending dues

Former Dunzo employees in Karnataka file complaint for non-payment of salaries and delayed settlements, facing communication roadblocks with company.

A group of former employees of the e-commerce company Dunzo Digital has submitted a complaint to the Karnataka Labour Department accusing the company of non-payment of salary and delayed full and final settlement. According to the complainants, more than 300 people who were laid off by the company have been awaiting settlements since 2023. Along with the Karnataka App-Based Workers Union, they met additional labour commissioner Dr G. Manjunath to apprise him of the situation. 

As per the petition, the Reliance Retail-backed hyperlocal delivery platform laid off 75% of its workforce by September 2024 retaining only a lean workforce of around 50 in an effort to curb costs and create cash flow. 

Rangapuram Hemanth, who worked as a team manager at Dunzo from 2019 to July 2023, told The Hindu that he has been awaiting a settlement to the tune of more than ₹2.5 lakh (without considering the interest) since his layoff in July 2023.

Syed Mustaqheen, who worked at Dunzo between 2021 and 2023, told The Hindu that he was terminated without a notice period in 2023 along with around 200 others and is awaiting a settlement of ₹1.13 lakh.

“In July 2023, we received an email from the HR team that the salary wouldn’t be paid for July 2023 due to cash flow crunch. They asked us to attend a town hall meeting during which they informed us about restructuring, which would impact several roles in the organisation. E-mails were sent to several employees and multiple rounds of layoffs followed,” Hemanth noted.  

According to Hemanth, although the laid-off employees received multiple emails from the company in July, August and October 2023, January and April 2024 promising settlement of dues along with interest of 12% per annum, the company violated them all. 

In June 2024, they were made to sign an NOC, following which they promised settlement within 45 days, Mr. Hemanth and Mr. Mustaqueen claimed.