Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Electric cab-hailing startup BluSmart Mobility is facing a fresh wave of financial difficulties, resulting in delayed salary payments for the month of March. In an internal email to employees, co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi acknowledged the delay, attributing it to cash flow constraints, and assured that all outstanding payments would be settled by the end of April.
“Due to current cash flow constraints, there will be a short delay in processing salaries. However, we want to assure you that all dues will be cleared within the month of April itself,” Jaggi wrote, as reported by Inc42. To mitigate the impact, he added that salaries would be released in phases, starting with the lowest pay grades and progressing upwards to prioritise fairness and support for those most affected.
The delayed payments come at a time when BluSmart, founded in 2019 by Jaggi and Punit K Goyal, is grappling with mounting financial and operational setbacks. With operations across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and, more recently, Mumbai, the company reportedly shut down its Dubai services in March and scrapped its plans to expand into Saudi Arabia.
Compounding the pressure, Refex Industries recently terminated a deal to acquire nearly 3,000 electric vehicles from Gensol Engineering, which had originally been leased to BluSmart. The cancellation is considered a major blow to the company’s operational roadmap. Meanwhile, BluSmart has seen a string of senior leadership departures. As of March, CEO Anirudh Arun, CBO Tushar Garg, CTO Rishabh Sood, and VP Priya Chakravarthy had all exited the company. Former vice president Nandan Sharma is set to take over as CEO.
To add to its troubles, BluSmart reportedly defaulted on Rs 30 crore worth of bonds in early February. At that time, the company denied any financial distress, insisting it was committed to building a strong premium brand and pursuing strategic expansion. However, the delayed salary disbursements now raise concerns about its short-term financial health.
Despite these challenges, BluSmart has raised $180 million to date through a combination of debt and equity from investors including BP Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Green Frontier Capital, Responsability, and actor Deepika Padukone.
Financially, the company reported a 245 per cent increase in operating revenue, reaching Rs 13.84 crore in FY23, while narrowing its losses to Rs 14.89 crore from Rs 35.37 crore in FY22. Earlier this year, reports also emerged suggesting Uber was in early talks to acquire BluSmart — claims the startup firmly denied.
