Exclusive: Ashneer Grover expects ‘amicable’ solution but lawyers up

By Kevin Colleran On Jan 31, 2022

BharatPe’s cofounder Ashneer Grover, who is on ‘voluntary’ leave until the end of March, told us in an exclusive interview that once the dust settles on the audio clip controversy, “BharatPe’s board and I will have a very amicable conversation and act in a manner which works best for us”. But multiple sources told us Grover has hired a Delhi law firm as pressure mounts on him to leave the company permanently. Not very amicable, is it?

Also in this letter:

BPO industry looks to double presence in small towns
Google trackers in 97% of Indian websites: Study
You bought an NFT. Now what?

If I don’t have the same freedom, I’m happy being just a shareholder, founder’

BharatPe’s cofounder and MD Ashneer Grover

In his first interview since the audio clip controversy, BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover accused unnamed detractors of fanning the flames that led to him going on leave until the end of March. Grover also said he would be happy being just a shareholder and founder of BharatPe if he didn’t enjoy the same freedom going forward.

Having come in for immense criticism for allegedly abusing and threatening a Kotak Mahindra Bank employee last October, Grover said he wasn’t seeking damages from the bank over the Nykaa IPO financing matter, which was the genesis of the public scandal.

Here are some edited excerpts from the interview.

On the audio clip: “The audio clip is absolutely fake. It was sent to me in an email, I had screenshots of it… When the audio was removed, my tweets had no locus standi and therefore were removed…that is the only reason. I stand by everything I said. The audio is fake.”

On seeking damages: “As far as I’m concerned, I will not be seeking any damages from Kotak moving forward. The chapter closed on November 8. And whatever loss has been incurred is my loss. I’ve not received any complaint or FIR on this or any other matter.”

On the future: “Irrespective of what happens, no one can take it away from me that I created BharatPe from scratch in record time. If I don’t have the same degree of freedom, I’m equally happy being a shareholder and a founder.”

“As the dust around this issue settles, BharatPe’s board and I will have a very amicable conversation and we will all act in a manner which works best for us, individually and collectively.”

On his detractors: “From getting a banking licence to being sponsors of ICC World Cup, it has been a dream run for BharatPe… There are people who have not been able to build a lending business despite being around for 10 years.’

On his only regret: “I think in hindsight, the only thing I should not have done was be vocal about Paytm’s IPO. Even though the numbers on the stock market are reflecting that, it was still not my place to speak. Other than that, I would not change a thing.”

Read the full interview here.

Grover hires law firm to protect himself against likely board action

Despite his talk of finding an amicable solution with BharatPe’s board, Ashneer Grover is seeking legal help amid mounting pressure on him to exit the company permanently, multiple sources told us.

Details: After BharatPe’s board set up an investigation and audit of the company, Grover roped in New Delhi-based law firm Karanjawala & Co. to figure out how to best safeguard his position and keep his 9% stake in the startup intact, one of the people said. He is taking legal opinion on all potential outcomes and circumstances, including allegations of fraudulent transactions at BharatPe, this person added.

Ruby Singh Ahuja, senior partner at Karanjawala & Co, confirmed that the firm is advising Grover but declined to elaborate.

BharatPe probe: On Saturday, BharatPe said it was conducting an investigation and audit of the firm, after reports of alleged financial irregularities at the $2.8-billion company. The board also said no employee had been sacked, reacting to news reports that said Grover had been fired.

A person familiar with the details of the charges said that these financial irregularities involve discrepancies around invoicing, payments for QR-code fleet, and related-party transactions resulting in a conflict of interest.

Under fire: Grover has no support from the fintech’s board, investors, and even the top management at the company, according to people in the know. “It’s clean up time… Audit is to give a clean slate for the company from here on but pretty much every other stakeholder in the company is gunning for Ashneer,” one of them said.

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BPO industry looks to double its presence in small towns in four years

India’s $38 billion business process outsourcing industry is looking to double its presence in the country’s smaller towns in the next four years, piggybacking on the success of the work-from-home phenomenon.

Driving the news: Nasscom and the Ministry of Electronics and IT are chalking out four operating models under the “work from home town” (WFHT) model and identifying 100 locations, of which 20 of them have already been finalised, executives told ET.

As the industry grows its revenues by two-fold in the next five years, firms will be able to address the talent crunch by hiring people from smaller cities and having them work from home instead of migrating to a city.

The plan: The industry’s plan is to drive 10% of employees and 10% of revenues (for the industry) from 100 towns, officials said. At the top of the list are places such as Warangal, Siliguri, Salem, Lucknow, Indore, Bhopal and Visakhapatnam.

The IT sector currently employs 1.4 million people, of which 10% are from small towns. This can grow to 20% through “effective industry and government initiatives which involve identifying top 100 towns in the country outside the leading technology hubs,” KS Viswanathan, vice president (industry initiatives) at Nasscom told ET.

Like the larger IT industry, India’s BPM industry has also gained from the pandemic-driven push to digitisation especially in areas like healthcare and banking and financial services. This revenue base could reach $70 billion by 2026, industry body Nasscom has estimated.

Google trackers are in 97% of Indian websites, study finds

The number of android apps seeking camera and microphone permissions on smartphones has increased from 45% to 68% and 28% to 54%, respectively, in the last five years, as per a study by data security and privacy firm Arrka titled ‘State of data privacy of Indian mobile apps and websites’.

The study: The study involved 201 Indian mobile apps and websites from 100 organisations across 25 industries. Arrka tracked various privacy parameters over five years. Here are some of its findings:

Google is the single largest third party with whom data is being shared, followed by Facebook. Google’s trackers were present in 97% of the websites and Facebook’s in 55%.
Around 42% android apps share data with Google, and 25% with Facebook. A possible reason for this could be that organisations are providing newer services/features based on these permissions.

Quote: “India Inc seems to have continued on its trajectory of paying scant attention to data privacy, with the unstated paradigm being ‘let the law come’. This is evident from the data in this study where most privacy-specific parameters seem to have only become worse,” said Shivangi Nadkarni, CEO, and Sandeep Rao, principal consultant.

Infographic Insight

You bought an NFT. Now what?

When Vikas Singh bought the first-ever non-fungible token (NFT) minted by edtech unicorn founder Gaurav Munjal, he was buying it for its future value. The image of a page from Munjal’s personal diary with Unacademy’s vision cost him about Rs 60,000.

“Let’s say when tomorrow the company goes public or that company does a very substantial raise, I can always encash that NFT by selling it to somebody else,” he said.

But what will Singh do with that NFT in the meantime?

This is a “problem” several NFT holders face, Singh said with a laugh. He said he wants to give more meaning to NFTs lying idle in people’s wallets by building Bliv.Club. His startup— backed by Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal—is building derivative products with which people can do things like lend or rent NFTs and make some money in the process.

Digital flexing: While for some owning a piece of digital art is enough, for others it’s all about showing it off. After all, people are spending anywhere from several thousands to lakhs on NFT-backed art.

To help them do so, Twitter recently launched a feature that lets users show off their NFTs in special, hexagonal display pictures. Facebook, Instagram and Reddit also have similar features in the works, according to reports.

Also Read: Why are social media firms nuts for NFTs?

What’s an NFT? An NFT is a type of crypto asset in which, unlike cryptocurrencies, every token is unique. NFTs can be used to represent an intangible digital item such as an image, video, or a piece of art and can thus be traded in place of the digital assets they represent. In essence, an NFT is a digital certificate of ownership that represents the purchase of a digital asset, traceable on a blockchain.