Months after it suspended cab booking services, troubled EV ride-hailing startup BluSmart’s app has stopped working.
On opening, BluSmart’s app is crashing and displaying a message “something went wrong!”. The app is facing the same issue on Android as well as iOS.
The startup suspended cab booking services on April 16. However, the app was still opening back then.
Interestingly, BluSmart, after being hit by a financial crunch and allegations of misutilisation and diversion of funds by its cofounders and Gensol Engineering promoters – Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, didn’t officially fire its workforce of 800 employees nor asked them to hand over resignations. There was no work left for the employees after the startup suspended operations, and they are still awaiting their salaries for the month of March.
The app shutdown may be a result of the software team leaving due to lack of work and salaries.
Inc42 has reached out to Blusmart’s third cofounder Punit Goyal for comments on the development. The story will be updated on receiving a response.
The abrupt suspension of operations also resulted in more than 10,000 drivers losing jobs.
On the customer front, several users had money in their BluSmart wallet, which is now stuck.
After multiple complaints, BluSmart said in April that it would refund the wallet amount within six days. However, this deadline was later extended to 90 days, which will be over on July 18.
Where Is BluSmart Heading?The fiasco began in April, when SEBI, in an interim order, said that the promoters of Gensol Engineering, Jaggi brothers, misled the regulatory body, credit rating agencies (CRAs), lenders and investors by using company’s funds for personal use.
The markets regulator barred the Jaggi brothers from holding any key managerial positions at the company.
On April 24, the Enforcement Directorate detained Puneet Singh Jaggi to question him regarding the Gensol fraud. However, later he was granted anticipatory bail from the Delhi High Court.
In the most recent development in the case, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), earlier this month, issued notices to BluSmart Mobility and Gensol Engineering on insolvency petitions filed by some of its creditors.
While Spectrum Trimpex Pvt. Ltd and Catalyst Trusteeship Ltd said BluSmart owes INR 1 Cr each to them, Equentia Financial Services Pvt Ltd said the company owes it around INR 9 Cr.
Amid all these, the future of BluSmart, a related entity of Gensol, remains unclear. While there have been reports of acquisition and its investors, including bp Ventures and responsAbility Investments, plans to invest $30 Mn (INR 253.64 Cr) in an effort to revive the startup, there have been no further updates on any of these fronts.
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