 "BluSmart")
The sudden suspension of cab bookings by electric vehicle ride-hailing platform BluSmart on Wednesday (April 16) has left many of its loyal users frustrated and anxious. With no official explanation on the app, customers have turned to social media to express their disappointment and demand refunds for the money stuck in their in-app wallets.
Somil Agrawal, a Gurugram-based marketing professional, has used BluSmart for the last four to five years. However, a few days ago, when media reports about a funding crisis at the company were doing the rounds, Agrawal withdrew the remaining wallet amount. "My experience with BluSmart has been phenomenal, the quality of service and drivers was commendable. I used the app regularly for inter-city commutes and airport pick and drop, but the recent developments have disappointed me. My wallet usually had around Rs 3,000, but I pulled out the amount initially only to avoid any hassles as the issue was becoming serious."
While Agrawal was quick to withdraw his wallet amount, several users are facing challenges and are constantly approaching the company's helpline for redressal. Yashasvi Shailly, a BluSmart user, took to social media to demand a wallet refund of over Rs 16,000. In a post on X, she wrote, "Loaded Rs 20,000 in Jan 2025 thinking I’d be sorted for the year. Now it’s April, Rs 16,474 stuck in my BluSmart wallet, while Sebi confirms fund diversions. Had mailed the team after Uber news. Got ‘media speculation’ as a reply. BluSmart India, I want my money back in my account."
Echoing similar concerns, another user wrote on X, "To date, I have used @BluSmartIndia every day for about a year. I refused to buy a car because it was so good. In Jan, I put Rs 30,000 in the wallet because they gave 10 per cent cashback. I have Rs 18,500 left in it, and my dad has Rs 6,000 in his account. Will they return the money?"
In an email to a user's query, the company stated that it would initiate a full refund of wallet balances within three months if the service does not resume during this period. "We have decided to temporarily close bookings on the BluSmart app. While we strive to be back soon to serve you with the same warmth and smile, we will initiate a refund within the next 90 days if services do not resume before then," the company said.
An email sent to BluSmart about the wallet refund process and the number of impacted users did not elicit any response.
Investor concern
While customers took to social media to raise their concerns, some of the early investors in BluSmart wrote about their experience dealing with the founders — Anmol Jaggi and Puneet Jaggi.
Venture capital firm ICE.vc was one of the early investors in BluSmart. However, the firm marked an early exit as it witnessed signs of chaos.
Speaking to Business Standard, Mrunal Jhaveri, founding partner of the firm, said, "We invested in BluSmart in around 2019 in the seed-stage round as the company ticked all boxes — better services, on-time cab arrival, affordable cabs, and sustainability. However, we marked an exit around two years ago due to several reasons — there was a mismatch in the numbers shared by the company at different intervals, the company would show the growth in percentage terms and not actual revenue numbers, and reaching out to founders simply meant a one-line reply and in-person access to them reduced over time."
Taking to social media, Jhaveri wrote that BluSmart lacked clarity on burn, margins, or sustainability. "Tough questions went unanswered. Founder access started drying up. BluSmart and Gensol were ‘separate’ on paper, but run by the same people with money flowing in unclear ways. Once the dots connected, the fragility of the model became obvious. So we exited," Jhaveri added.
"We were not comfortable, that’s the reason we exited. We did not want to do more business with them because of governance issues, and they were a high-burn business," said an early investor on condition of anonymity, who has exited from BluSmart.
The person further added: "We were not aware of the fund diversion. We didn’t have that many details. We were not lenders to Gensol, so we wouldn’t know. When we had funded them, it was a very small company. Later we felt there was not much information being shared on what’s happening on the related party side of things, that’s when we did not want to go further."
The firm has several high-profile players as investors. BP Ventures holds about 13 per cent stake in the company. Deepika Padukone’s family and MS Dhoni’s family office also find mention in the early investor list.
DIFFICULT TIMES
* The company said it would initiate a full refund of wallet balances within three months if the service doesn’t resume
* Venture capital firm ICE.vc made an early exit after seeing signs of ensuing chaos
Customers’ grievances
* Out of ₹20,000 in app-wallet, ₹16,474 left, a customer wrote on X
* Out of ₹30,000 put in January, ₹18,500 in the wallet, and my dad has ₹6,000 in his account, another customer complained
(With inputs from Jaden Mathew Paul)
