Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd, which owns e-commerce major Snapdeal, and 11 executives from the firm, including co-founder Kunal Bahl, have been summoned by a Bangalore metropolitan court over a complaint filed by an events company, a financial daily reported.
In its private complaint, Dream Events, which runs Bangalore Fashion Week, alleged that the troubled e-commerce firm violated a financial contract and also owes them dues, a report by The Economic Times stated.
Dream Merchants had approached the court in March 2016 after Snapdeal reneged out of a three-year contract, where it had committed to be one of the major sponsors for Bangalore Fashion Week for six editions, Feroz Khan, founder of the events company told ET.
“While there was a 60-day exit clause, they violated the contract by backing out 15 days before the event. No reason was provided. Despite no funding, we went ahead with our event incorporating their logos. Snapdeal did not honour the invoice or notices sent later. They kept passing the buck,†Khan was quoted as telling ET.
Repeated attempts to contact Dream Merchants went unanswered at the time of filing this report; however, a Snapdeal spokesperson said that the company is yet to see the complaint filed against it. “The company will take all appropriate legal steps to defend it and its employees against all baseless allegations,†a company spokesperson said in response to queries from VCCircle.
This is not the first instance where Snapdeal has been in the news for non-payment of dues. In February this year, a group of sellers from Snapdeal – affiliated to the All India Online Vendor Association (AIOVA) – approached commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman to protect their interests. According to their complaint, Snapdeal held Rs 300-400 crore in the form of outstanding dues and goods in transit or refunds.
Snapdeal has been facing bigger problems with three of its investors, Softbank Corp, Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital, pushing for the e-commerce firm to either merge with Flipkart or effect a sale.
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