Cash-strapped hyperlocal delivery firm Dunzo is facing yet another crisis as the company’s former employees allege that TDS, which was deducted from their salary, has not been deposited to the government since October 2022.

Also, several former employees allegedly have not received their Form 16 from the company. This form is required for filing their income tax returns, which must be done by the month-end.

According to sources, the company has asked them to delay filing income tax return (ITR) till they issue Form 16.

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“We are like 150-odd employees who got impacted because of lay-offs and the company hasn’t filed our TDS yet. Now they are telling us to not file ITR (Income Tax Returns) until they share Form 16 but the fact that every month they deducted TDS and didn’t pay to the government on our behalf, that’s a clear fraud case. They are asking us to file ITR by paying taxes in full and revise it once we receive Form 16,” said a former employee requesting anonymity.

Another source said that Dunzo in a call on Monday with some aggrieved ex-employees assured them that they are processing the TDS deposits and asked the employees to either delay the ITR filing and wait till they receive Form 16 and then file the returns or pay the taxes themselves for now and when the company deposits the TDS with the department and Form 16 is issued, the refund will be processed.

Delaying TDS deposit

“From October, the TDS was not deposited while it was deducted from our salary. We did not realise that this till the month of March or April and we did not get proper responses. On Monday, Dunzo scheduled a call, and the payroll manager said that they were expecting some equity fund liquidation in March and it was management decision to delay TDS deposit,” said the source requesting annonymity.

“On Monday, they told us that they are processing the deposit of taxes and gave three options. The company asked us to delay the ITR filing and wait till August when we receive our Form 16. The other option was to file the ITR with whatever details we have and revise the filing after receiving Form 16 or calculate the taxes and pay it yourself and when Dunzo deposits TDS with the department and Form 16 is issued, the refund will be generated,” the source added.

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Another source said that the full and final settlement would happen on September 4 for the employees who were laid-off, including the deferred salaries of June, July, and August.

Dunzo, however, in response to a businessline questionnaire said: “We have processed the TDS payments for 98% of our team members and intend to complete the remaining as well.” The company is also facing legal notices from at least seven firms allegedly over unpaid dues.

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