GoMechanic cooked books; founder admits to grave errors, 70% staff sacked

Automobile after-sales service startup GoMechanic co-founder Amit Bhasin on Wednesday admitted to errors in financial reporting, following which a forensic audit has been ordered and a business restructuring undertaken which will see 70% of the 1,000-odd workforce being laid off. "Our passion to survive the intrinsic challenges of this sector, and manage capital, took the better of us and we made errors in judgment as we followed growth at all costs, including in regard to financial reporting, which we deeply regret," he wrote without giving details of the misreporting. "We take full responsibility for this current situation and unanimously have decided to restructure the business while we look for capital solutions," Mr. Bhasin wrote. Mr. Bhasin along with Kushal Karwa, Nitin Rana and Rishabh Karwa founded GoMechanic in 2016 as an automobile repair startup, connecting car owners with repair service providers in their area.