“I was on off that day. But my roommate, who is also a Blusmart driver, called me and told me ‘Blusmart ka message aaya hai, company band ho gayi hai (Blusmart has messaged us, the company has shut down),” says an annoyed Ashish Kumar, who was one among the thousands of electric cab drivers in Delhi-NCR who lost their job at the Gurgaon-based startup overnight.
Popular electric cab service BluSmart hit the brakes on Wednesday, just a day after Gensol Engineering Ltd which owns the startup was pulled up by India’s top market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for fund diversion and document falsification, upending the lives of its drivers and their families.
Brothers Anmol and Puneet Singh Jaggi, promoters of Blusmart, stand accused of diverting Rs 262 crore – loaned by government-owned lending agencies to procure 1,700 electric cars, towards personal indulgences and related-party entities, such as purchasing a Rs 43-crore worth ultra-luxury flat in Gurgaon — The Camelias, transfers worth Rs 11 crore for their mothers and spouses and premium golf set worth Rs 26 lakh.
Kumar, 42, who originally hails from Karnal in Haryana, was living in Sector 86, Gurgaon, in a rented room with another driver, as the Blusmart parking hub, where the electric cars are parked, was situated close to Sector 83.
“We have to pay our room’s rent, our children’s school fees, and our parents’ medical bills among so many other expenses. Where will we pay for all these expenses?” asks Kumar, who has decided to return to his village in Karnal, as he and his roommate didn’t have enough money saved to pay the room’s monthly rent of Rs 4,300.
Kumar, like most other Blusmart drivers, used to earn about Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per month.
Plans of Kumar and thousands of other Blusmart drivers have gone for a toss with the sudden closure of services. “The drivers are very anxious. So many drivers call and ask me what to do next. What should I tell them?” Kumar asks with a sigh.
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Findings from the securities market regulator show that this could be one of the biggest recorded frauds in India’s start-up ecosystem.
Kumar also has two children, on whose education and accommodation he has to spend close to Rs 25,000 every month. He also has to buy medicines and get tests done for his mother, who is currently sick.
“Some drivers who have come from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have gone back home and the rest have started packing and will leave anytime soon,” says Jagveer Nagar, a former Blusmart driver. “Since Blusmart drivers don’t own their cars, they can’t even shift to another cab service like Uber-Ola,” the 37-year old says.
Blusmart was different from its peers> in that it owned all its cars, unlike Uber or Ola, for whom cab drivers could drive their own or rented cars.
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Nagar, who had been connected to Blusmart for more than two years, is now thinking of going back to his previous profession of becoming a bouncer.
The EV cab service used to pay its drivers every Wednesday their previous week’s earnings. The saving grace in the situation was that before the company shut its operations on Wednesday, drivers were sent their previous week’s earnings. Only after that did the company send out the message to all drivers that they should bring back and park the cars in their respective parking hubs for an audit. “They sent us our money, that’s why drivers brought back the cars. Or else, why would they have agreed?” asks Nagar.
The company’s last intimation to drivers was that they would be called back after the audit. Drivers say they were told they would be informed on April 20, Sunday, of resuming the operations. They haven’t received any news until now.
For almost all drivers, the only money that the company still owes them is the money that they earned on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Some drivers who used to charge their vehicles at home got an electric charger from the company, for which they had to pay a security fee of Rs 5,000, which they are demanding back now.
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“The Gig Workers Association (GigWA) expresses deep concern over the abrupt suspension of operations by BluSmart,” says a statement from GigWA, a forum of workers who work for E-commerce companies.
In response to the abrupt halt in operations, GigWA has demanded BluSmart to immediately disburse all pending payments, including earned income and the weekly incentive of ₹8,000 owed to drivers. The association has also called for compensation equivalent to three months of income to help ensure financial stability during this period of uncertainty.
Furthermore, GigWA has urged BluSmart to offer alternative employment opportunities or facilitate job placements for the affected drivers. Lastly, it has demanded that the company take back the chargers issued to drivers and refund the ₹5,000 that was deducted for them.
While BluSmart has also sourced EVs directly from high-net-worth individuals and investors under its “BluSmart Assured” leasing programme, the majority of its fleet is leased from Gensol.