Controversies Of 2017 In The Corporate World

1. Paradise Papers Leak

The confidential financial data leak by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), called Paradise Papers contained 13.4 million documents related to offshore finance. India ranked 19th out of the 180 countries in the number of names connected to it. A total of 714 Indians were named including politicians, celebrities, and other uber-rich individuals.

 

2. Uber becomes a target of scandals

It began in January with a large number of subscribers deleting the Uber App in support of the #Deleteuber movement that hit Twitter after it eliminated its surge price at JFK Airport making it look like it was supporting the seemingly 'Anti-Muslim' decision taken by President Trump. This act followed a sexual harassment accusation from Uber's former engineer Susan Fowler in a detailed blog post. The post threw light on the company's dysfunctional organization when the HR refused to take action on complaints made by her.
Then came the infamous video of the CEO Travis Kalanick getting into an argument with a cab driver. He later sent an e-mail apologizing to his employees and taking responsibility for his behavior. These and many scandals that followed led to the investors becoming increasingly unhappy with his leadership. Kalanick had to resign. Also, around 20 employees were fired on the grounds of sexism, and some significant top executives had to leave.

3. Women employees file FIR against TVF founder

Sarah Fowler's post encouraged an ex-employee of TVF to write a post online anonymously explaining the sexual harassment she experienced over a period of 2 years before she quit, from founder and CEO Arunabh Kumar. TVF rubbished the post claiming they were false allegations aimed at defaming the company's reputation. In the light of this controversy, around ten women came up with similar charges against him and led to the subsequent filing of FIRs. Kumar was arrested and also released on bail. After pressure from investors, the company decided to let him go.

4. Airtel Payments Bank e-KYC license suspended

Earlier this month, there were allegations on Bharathi Airtel for using subscriber data from Aadhar e-KYC based SIM card verification process to open payments accounts and linking them to receive LPG subsidy without the subscribers' consent. This lead to suspension of e-KYC license and its MD and CEO Shashi Arora's resignation. Airtel agreed to return Rs. 190 crore of subsidy amount with interest to the original bank accounts of customers.

5. Indigo Airlines staff manhandled passenger

Like most controversies, IndiGo, the low-cost domestic airlines became a victim of the viral video sharing rage. In November, a video showed a man identified as Rajeev Katyal being dragged by the employees of the airlines and abused. The employee who took the said video was later fired. The DGCA has issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo seeking explanation on the incident.