Micro, small and medium enterprises members of Future Group Vendors United are staring at a bleak future with Reliance Retail refusing to lift garments worth ₹500 crore for last eight months.
Vendors from Tirupur, Delhi, Gujarat and Rajasthan will assemble before Reliance Retail headquarters at Ghansoli, on the outskirts of Mumbai, on Monday demanding clearance of inventory and payment of dues.
Future Group Vendors United is an association of over 300 MSME vendors supplying garment and fashion accessories to all Future Group companies.
At the peak of its bid to take over Future Group business, Reliance Retail had signed a tripartite agreement with Future Group Vendors United to supply garments.
As per the mutual arrangement, vendors used to bill goods to Future Enterprises and ship it to Reliance Retail while payments were done by Reliance Retail directly to the vendors.
Purchase deal
Reliance would pay 25 per cent of purchase value in advance and balance within 10 days of GRN (Goods Received Note) at Reliance Retail warehouse.
After six months of this arrangement, the payment terms were revised to 45 days post GRN and this was to last till March and payments were received till February.
However, since January, Reliance Retail stopped lifting the goods for which orders were placed by the sourcing team of Future Group along with the purchase order copies.
The garment makers are in shambles as they are left with inventory worth ₹500 crore. In April, Reliance Retail called off bid to take over Future Group.
No payments
Piyush Shah, Co-founder and Member, Future Group Vendors United said the life of vendors and about one lakh workers involved have been hit as no payments were received from Future Group for three years and ready goods of ₹500 crore are yet to be lifted.
Earlier this month, over 100 vendors met up with Kishore Biyani demanding the dues, but did not get a clear reply or a solution from him.
Post-pandemic when the Future group was in a bad shape financially all vendors had stopped supplying goods to Future Group companies due to pending dues, then Reliance Retail came in support of Future Group, said Shah.