Between Bouncers And Brick Walls: Why AGS Staff Want To Quit, But Can’t | Profit Exclusive

Vinod Kumar, a Hyderabad-based employee of AGS Transact Technologies Ltd, arrived in Mumbai on one hot morning this March. He was on his way to the company's head office in Prabhadevi, seeking clarity from Chairman Ravi Goyal on his salary dues. Instead, he was greeted by bouncers.

"I wanted to meet Ravi Goyal directly, but the bouncers didn't allow me to go anywhere near his office," Vinod told NDTV Profit.

"Goyal came out of his office when he heard that I had come from a different state to ask for my money. He stood at a distance, called himself helpless, and said that he himself had no money. He said AGS will clear my dues in 15 days," Vinod said.

He then went back to Hyderabad, but his dues were never cleared. He went to Mumbai yet again in May, and was again asked to wait 15 days. He is still waiting.

Vinod is not alone in this. AGS Transact has not been paying salaries and invoices for its employees for several months now. Between Vinod's two Mumbai visits, Goyal had written to company employees, telling them that the firm planned to establish a plan for clear pending salaries within 10 days.

NDTV Profit has reviewed the contents of the email.

Goyal's message said that the company's operations across India had been affected due to financial stress and there would be downsizing operations.

To add some context, AGS Transact has been in the news over the last four months owing to severe business disruptions, coming from financial stress in the company. These disruptions led to multiple bank ATMs being non-functional, as AGS could not ensure cash fulfillment in all of them.

As of April, AGS owed over Rs 592 crore to banks and had overdue payments worth Rs 17 crore. Its subsidiary Securevalue India Ltd. had defaulted on term loans and statutory dues, and owed nearly Rs 127 crore, with a default of Rs 4.2 crore.

ATM safe manufacturer Maxwel Aircon India Pvt., an operational creditor, had also filed an insolvency petition against AGS Transact in front of the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal.

Despite the unpaid dues, there have not been a lot of resignations at AGS. This is by design.

The HR team at AGS Transact has just stopped showing up for work. No resignations are being processed, no relieving letters are being issued and provident funds are not being transferred.

"Right now, less than 50 people are actively working for the company," a senior-level executive said on the condition of anonymity.

"People want to resign, but they can't," the executive added.

Another employee who was working as a deputy manager in the company said that they found it difficult to switch jobs when there was no relieving letter. "I had to negotiate very hard at my new workplace. Basically, I had to convince them to take me on without a proper resignation from AGS."

An executive vice president who retired from AGS a few months ago after working there for nearly 15 years said that their full and final settlement, and salary for five months, remains unpaid till date. The total sum is about Rs 86 lakh.

"There was no response from Ravi Goyal, CFO Saurabh Lal or executive director Stanley Panacherry. I have even sent them a legal notice, but they still haven't responded," the retired executive added.

NDTV Profit has reviewed a copy of the legal notice.

Since then, Panacherry and Lal have resigned from the company. Board members and executive directors, too, have been quick to move on.

As of March, 2024, the company had nearly 2,500 employees — 1,106 permanent and 1,384 non-permanent ones. And technically, since their resignations can't be processed, most of them are still on the company roll, the first person quoted above added.

"The worst part is that we are a one-person board right now. Ravi Goyal is the only board person left. All other statutory positions in the board are now vacant," this person said.

NDTV Profit spoke to several non-permanent employees of AGS in cities including Hyderabad, Kolkata, Darbhanga, Puducherry and Jamshedpur. Nearly 800 of these employees have not been paid their dues — ranging from Rs 2.75 lakh to Rs 5 lakh — for over seven months now, an HR executive at AGS told NDTV Profit.

"They were not paying me since December, 2024. And then in March, 2025, I was told that my contract will not be renewed beyond May. So I was let go with six months of pending invoices and two years of petrol allowance dues," a Haryana-based non-permanent employee, who wished to remain unnamed, said.

These non-permanent employees, internally called "off-role," are managed though an exchange-listed professional staffing solutions provider.

A senior process executive at the staffing firm clarified the payment arrangement to NDTV Profit: "AGS is an upfront client, which means that they pay us to pay the off-roll employees."

He stated that AGS had ceased remitting funds to the staffing company for these remunerations since August 2024. Consequently, the latter advanced payments for the off-roll invoices from August through November, incurring a cost of Rs 36 crore.

"We then raised the issue of overdue payments with AGS. But from January 2025, AGS even stopped providing us with updated details on the active non-permanent employees working for them," the executive said.

This has been further complicating the payment reconciliation process.

On May 30, 2025, AGS Transact Technologies Ltd. informed the stock exchanges that it would not be publishing its financial results for the quarter within the mandated timeframe.

"Company is experiencing personnel shortages due to vacancies in various departments, including the finance department," the cash-strapped ATM manager wrote. "As a result of the personnel shortages and the vacancies in the board and the audit committee, the management is unable to compile the financial data of the company for the reporting period, and consequently, is unable to initiate the audit of such financial statements."

The cash manager has initiated discussions with lenders for restructuring of loans, started negotiations for stake sale in subsidiaries, and is trying to improve collection efforts for its outstanding trade receivables.

Today, there exists a WhatsApp group of nearly 400 AGS employees who have come together to find ways to settle their dues. These people have sent letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Some permanent employees claim that their provident fund contributions have not been deposited to the EPFO for the last one year.

Amid all this, Goyal's mail to his employees from April paints perhaps too optimistic a picture: "Your continued support is invaluable, and I sincerely appreciate your trust as we work toward solutions."

"We understand your concerns and assure you that the leadership team is addressing these challenges." he wrote.

"AGS is not shutting down," the email said in bold letters.

NDTV Profit has reached out to Ravi Goyal and AGS Transact for comments on the story.