PayU gives pink slip to 150 employees, no plans of 'major downsizing'

The layoffs were undertaken to realign the teams locally

In a bid to realign its teams locally, the Payments and fintech business of Prosus, PayU, has reportedly fired 150 employees accounting for 6 per cent of their total workforce.

"Keeping in mind our highest strategic priorities, we are realigning teams across some businesses in India...we will have (to) part ways with some of our colleagues. Close to 150 employees, which is less than 6 per cent of our total employee strength, will be impacted by organisational realignmen," the Economic Times (ET) reported a PayU spokesperson as saying.

Prosus, majority owned by Naspers, serves more than 4,50,000 merchants with over 100 payment methods. Prosus has been a long-term investor and operator in India investing close to $6 billion in technology companies like Swiggy, and Pharmeasy since 2005.

PayU India's fintech businesses include Wibmo, LazyPay and Citrus Pay.

Also read: Prosus posts $80-million loss on investment in PayU India

The spokesperson added that the company does not have any plans of "major downsizing".

In October, Prosus terminated its plans to acquire BillDesk by PayU Payments for $4.7 billion. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had given a thumbs up to the deal in September. In a statement, Prosus said certain conditions precedent weren't met by the deadline at the end of September.

The amalgamation of BillDesk with PayU of Prosus would have created digital payments giant with an annual total payment volume (TPV) of USD 147 billion.

Its closest rivals in India such as Razorpay and CCAvenue, which is owned by Infibeam, are estimated to have an annual TPV of over USD 50 billion and USD 18-20 billion, respectively.