Coronavirus update: PaisaBazaar lays off half of its workforce; over 1,500 impacted

Digital lending marketplace PaisaBazaar, part of SoftBank-backed unicorn PolicyBazaar, has laid off about half of its staff amid the coronavirus pandemic. PaisaBazaar has fired 1,500-2,000 employees to cut costs as loan demand at the digital lending marketplace has reduced because of the pandemic. The online company for loans and credit cards has a strength of 3,000-4,000 employees.

According to Livemint, the layoffs were predominantly in roles that involved operations and business acquisition. The laid-off employees have been asked to serve a month's notice ending June 30.

In April, Paisaazaar.com announced that it had become India's first independent digital platform to reach an annualised loan disbursal rate of $1 billion. The company also said it disbursed Rs 480 crore of unsecured loans every month. However, as per the daily, Paisabazaar witnessed a  plunge by almost 90 per cent for loan demand recently.

Over the past two months, the digital lending industry struggled to raise fresh funds from banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for lending, resulting in a spike in borrowing rates. Additionally, the extended moratorium announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also made it difficult for several lenders to collect payments from borrowers.

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