BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer apologizes for remarks on salary row
What's the story
Fintech start-up BharatPe's CEO Suhail Sameer on Thursday apologized for his comments on social media, claiming the company's former chief Ashneer Grover had stolen all the money and they have very little left to pay salaries. His remarks came on a LinkedIn post of a BharatPe employee who alleged nonpayment of salaries and termination of administrative staff, which also attracted a response from Grover.
Context
Why does this story matter?
BharatPe CEO Sameer's social media comment on Grover stealing the company's money came barely a month after the start-up accused the latter and his family of "extensive misappropriation of company funds." Earlier, Grover had also leveled cross allegations of being targeted, impacting the fintech unicorn company's reputation. Sameer's latest remarks assume significance due to the nature of the grave allegations of fraud against Grover.
Controversy
What triggered the fresh social media spar?
It all started when Sameer replied to Aashima Grover's (Grover's sister) comment on BharatPe employee Karan Sarki's aforementioned LinkedIn post. He commented, "Behen—tere bhai ne saara paisa chura liya (Sister, your brother has stolen all the money). Very little left to pay salaries." His remarks were slammed by many social media users following which Sameer expressed regret over his statement and issued an apology.
LinkedIn post
This is what the BharatPe employee alleged
Notably, Sarki took to LinkedIn to raise the issue of nonpayment of salaries for March by BharatPe despite following up multiple times on email and numerous office visits. "We haven't received our salary for March... All the old admin staff of BharatPe has been terminated by you without giving any reason and their salaries have not been paid," he alleged.
Quote
'Company spending money for petty expenses'
Sarki further claimed the employees have been spending money out of their own pockets for "petty expenses" of the company and yet their "reimbursement bills" haven't been cleared since December. He tagged Sameer, Grover, and BharatPe co-founder Shashvat Nakrani, among others, in the LinkedIn post.
Twitter Post
Social media reactions to CEO's comments
Some sense prevailed. pic.twitter.com/zyDxtpUKqE
— Hemindra Hazari (@HemindraHazari) April 8, 2022
Apology
This is what BharatPe CEO wrote in apology
Following social media backlash, Sameer apologized in a LinkedIn post saying, "Friends - I apologize to have irked many of you. In hindsight, it was out of line." "We are already working on past employees' full and final being paid out. My comment was a reaction to a particular statement, not the post. But I accept the mistake," he wrote.
Statement
BharatPe issues statement denying nonpayment of salaries
Separately, BharatPe has issued a statement in response to the claims on social media regarding the nonpayment of salaries for last month. Denying the allegations, the company said, "All the employees of the company have been paid their March salary in full... Employees serving their notice period will receive their full and final settlement amount in the due course as per company policy."