The News Minute| August 14, 2014| 3.30 pm IST
No Form 16s, former and current employees of Tehelka are a worried lot
Founded as a website by Tarun Tejpal and Aniruddha Bahal in 2000, Tehelka and its employees have been through many ups and downs in the last decade.
Tehelka management’s woes increased with Tarun Tejpal’s arrest following a police case in which an employee accused him of sexual assault and rape. The magazine has seen much changes in its management and shareholding patterns.
In June, The Hoot reported that parliamentarian K D Singh who owns the Royal Building and Infrastructure Private Limited, that in turn owns two-thirds of the shares of Anant Media Private Limited (formerly Agni Media) which brings out Tehelka, was looking to sell his stake in the firm.
Even as there are talks of the magazine’s ownership change hands, there are more concerns for the employees. The News Minute has learnt from many former and current employees of Tehelka, that no one has received Form 16 for financial year 2013-2014.
(Form 16 is certificate or document issued to salaried personnel in India by their employers. The form contains details that assist in the process of filing Tax returns with the Income Tax department)
A senior journalist who left Tehelka recently says, "It's way past the last date for filing tax returns and we haven't got any form 16. When we call up the accounts department, no one takes our calls. This is absolutely not done. How can they not answer us for the money they deducted from our salaries?"
Sources in the IT department and those working in Tehelka confirm that the Form 16s have not been given as the TDS amount has not been deposited by the company with the Income Tax department. Income Tax rules say that the tax deducted has to be deposited in the designated banks within specified time. And, if the amount is credited in the books on 31st March then the tax should be remitted by 31st May.
Though there is no confirmation on whether the full or a partial amount has been defaulted, an internal mail pegs it at Rs 3 crore.
Moreover, most employees The News Minute spoke to confirmed that salaries for July 2014 had not been credited yet and they have been assured that the salaries would be disbursed at the earliest, the delay was due to IT raids at the Alchemist group some weeks ago.
We got in touch with Tarun Tejpal's sister Neena T. Sharma, who was the company's chief operating officer, but she refused to comment on any of the issues. "You need to ask the current management," Neena Sharma said. When we persisted with questions that the TDS relates to the time she was COO of company, she refused to comment further. A mail to the magazine’s CEO was also unanswered.
With uncertainties persisting, almost the entire sales team of the magazine quit in the first week of August. Though employees are lamenting on the inability to file taxes, some in the senior management and editorial have been assuring current employees that efforts were being made to arrange necessary funding. The new management also recently introduced Provident Funds for employees, which Tehelka did not have till now.
Uncertainties plague employees at DNA Pune and Bangalore
After being in trouble for months, DNA appears to be making preparations to close down its Bangalore and Pune editions. Attempts to seek a response from the management received no response.
Launched in 2005, the newspaper is owned by Diligent Media Corporation Limited, which is a part of Essel Group (owners of Zee network). In June, The News Minute reported that the Bangalore edition of the newspaper had seen numerous resignations in two years that nearly halved the newspaper’s staff in the city.
The resignations were however, not just limited to Bangalore. The Chief Executive Officer of the company Malcom Mistry had also resigned. At the time, sources associated with the newspaper told The News Minute that the "DNA was a good newspaper run down by bad management"
Now it appears that the newspaper may be shutting down its operations in Bangalore and Pune for good. Publication of Both editions had been stopped some days ago and links to the Pune and Bangalore editions of the epaper direct the user to the Mumbai edition.
What is not clear is how the newspaper plans to let go of its staff. Last month, the Bangalore office of the DNA had 11 editorial staff. Three press employees, four desk journalists, two designers and two outstation correspondents in Karnataka had been asked to leave. The rest of the staff are waiting for more clarity as rumours are flying thick and fast that they will be asked to leave enmasse.
An employee with the DNA in Bangalore told The News Minute: “People working in HR department told us there will be a severance package given in tune with what Pune employees received. But these were unofficial discussions. There are too many rumours floating around that we need to work only till 14th or 16th August, and then will be handed over our letters.”
Exchange4media website reported that the employees of the Pune edition that Human Resource staff had informed around 50 employees that the edition would be closed down and that the employees had demanded eight months of severance pay. Sources have told The News Minute that the management has offered three month’s (basic salary) as severance pay, the initial offer was a month's basic salary.
An email sent to Group CEO Bhaskar Das two days received no reply, and repeated calls went unanswered. Das joined the group in October 2012, after a career spanning over three decades at Bennet, Cole and Company Limited.
Inputs by Anisha Sheth and Dhanya Rajendran