Remember the startup everyone was talking about? BluSmart, India’s promising EV cab service that was supposed to revolutionize urban mobility with its clean energy fleet. Well, it’s shutting down operations across Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, leaving users unable to book rides and wondering what happened to their wallet balances.
Behind this spectacular collapse lies a tale of financial mismanagement that would make even the most seasoned entrepreneurs shudder. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) dropped a bombshell on April 15, 2025, exposing how the Jaggi brothers—Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi—allegedly treated Gensol Engineering, which owned and leased EVs to BluSmart, as their “personal piggy bank.”
The numbers are staggering. Out of ₹977.75 crore in loans from IREDA and PFC meant for purchasing 6,400 electric vehicles, only 4,704 EVs were actually bought for ₹567.73 crore, leaving ₹262.13 crore unaccounted for. SEBI’s investigation revealed these funds were diverted through a complex web of transactions to entities connected to the Jaggi brothers.
What did they do with the money? For starters, they bought a luxury apartment at DLF Camellias in Gurgaon (where prices start at ₹70 crore), spent ₹26 lakh on a golf set, and transferred substantial amounts to family members—₹6.2 crore to their mother and ₹2.98 crore to Anmol’s wife.
Even more shocking, the company reportedly submitted forged “conduct letters” to credit rating agencies, falsely claiming they were regular in debt servicing.
BluSmart was losing over ₹20 crore monthly despite raising substantial funding, including from notable investors like Deepika Padukone and Hero MotoCorp. The company has now informed users that if services don’t resume within 90 days, wallet balances will be refunded.
As three independent directors—Arun Menon, Harsh Singh, and Kuljit Singh Popli—resign in the aftermath, this case serves as a sobering reminder about the importance of due diligence and corporate governance. What began as India’s electric mobility dream has ended as a cautionary tale about what happens when founders treat public funds as personal assets.
This blog is not intended to defame any brand, individual, or business mentioned above. The sole purpose of the article is to derive learnings for stakeholders in India’s startup ecosystem. The information and statements presented are sourced from the following references and have not been independently verified first-hand.
- “How the Jaggi brothers misled investors and lenders while being cleantech poster boys” by Pranav Mukul , Reena Zachariah & Joel Rebello, The Economic Times Bureau (Apr 18, 2025)
- “From a flat in Camellias to crores in family account: How Jaggi brothers diverted loan funds taken for BluSmart EVs” by Times Of India Tech Desk (Apr 17, 2025)
- “How Jaggi brothers destroyed BluSmart, rival of Uber, after misusing company money” by Tribune Web Desk (Apr 18, 2025)
