After Eros Now defaults on payments, disgruntled vendor resorts to memes; compares the company to Vijay Mallya

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It’s the era of social media and sadly, that means that it’s also the era of trolling. It’s not uncommon to see celebrities or films/web series being slammed by the netizens. But companies facing the heat are rare. Hence, we were quite surprised to see that Eros Now, the digital platform of Eros International being made the butt of jokes on some influential Instagram pages. At least 2 memes compared the company to liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Upon further inquiries, we have found out that the reputed brand has defaulted on payments of some vendors who were hired for their creative and technical services.+

Bollywood Hungama spoke to one such individual who did digital-related work for Eros Now. On condition of anonymity, he revealed that Eros Now owes him almost Rs. 20 lakhs for a project that he and his team did for the brand. He explains, “It was 8 to 9 months back that we started working with them. Kaam toh woh humse kara lete hai. Kaam sabko chahiye hota hai. But when it comes to payment, they keep delaying it. The rule that is followed is that the payment has to be done after 45 days. But it’s been almost 150 days now. They just tell us that the payment will be done. But when will that happen, they won’t tell that. We are tired of following up and we feel ashamed that we have to beg for our own money. And I am told that not just us, many others have been similarly waiting for their dues. They have received investment from an outside company and yet they are unable to pay us. We wonder what’s going on with the company.”

When asked about their project for Eros Now, the disgruntled individual says, “We were working for a digital campaign for Eros. Everything was finalized and our work had commenced. Then, mid-way, they told us to stop the work. We had already invested money into it. And then they tell us not to go ahead with the project. Aise thodi hota hai.”

When their work began, they didn’t have the slightest hint that Eros Now would behave in such a manner. He tells, “They gave us the advance right at the beginning. But then we haven’t got any other installments from Eros. When you get the initial payment, you trust the company and expect them to regularly make the payment.”

This individual also confesses that they are the brainchild behind the Eros Now memes. He reasons, “Yes, we started the memes. Kuch na kuch toh karna hi padega na. It didn’t affect them much as they are big problems. But paisa toh lena hai inse.”

This wasn’t the first time that he and his team had worked for Eros Now. “We had worked with them some years ago. At that point, there was no payment issue on the part of Eros Now,” says the individual to further explain why he had no reason to believe that Eros would act in such a manner this time.

What has also added to their misery is that they have not been able to reach out to the company off late. The individual says, “They don’t pick up calls. Their office is shut as everyone there works from home. We are fed up. No one should work with them.”