[Resolved]  Karvy — billing dispute

To the legal team @ karvy digiconnect,

I would like to start the email by apologizing for writing directly to you however i am left with no option but to write in to you.

This email is with regards to an invoice dispute that has been ongoing for almost a month and now i have stopped even receiving a response from the hr team (And related team / members) at karvy. My firm hnh placement pvt. Ltd. Is a man power sourcing vendor for your offices in thane maharashtra.

This dispute is about a said candidate amandeep singh who was first sent by my agency to your thane - manpada location in the month of oct 2018. The candidate was not selected at that location however he was called in for interviews (Claimed to be sent by another agency) and then selected at your waghle estate office.

I reached out to the candidate as i had another suitable opening for him (I was still unaware that he has not just been selected but had started working with karvy) and thats when he told hazel (My business partner) that he has already been employed by karvy. We then reached out to sonali mahajan – hr manager (Unfortunately she is no longer with karvy) and she confirmed on an email that as per the contracts lock in period of 6 (Six) months the candidate would be billable by my company even if selected at any location or affiliates of karvy and requested the other location to share the billing details with us.

To our utter shock we were told that the candidate no longer belongs to you (Which is a gross disregard of the duly stamped and signed legal agreement that we have with karvy), i then somehow was able to escalate the case to sanjeeb who conducted his own investigation and again said the same that the candidate cannot be billed by us. I then asked for a further escalation and reason for not being billable by us, to which he escalated the case to mr. Santosh panigrahi (Stating that he is the one who is from a legal understanding and would be able to help.

I then received a response from mr. Panigrahi which was an even bigger shock for me (Makes me wonder how a person in his capacity and position can speak such a thing to a vendor as "let’s not talk about sonali, she is no more in karvy… the below clause is applicable only if the candidate is selected." if a person who has such disregard for a recently exited employee of his own company, makes me lose a whole lot of faith in the company's management.

That said the clause that he was highlighting was point 3.2 and 3.5 of the contract - in which mr. Panigrahi very conveniently chose to cherry pick 1 line from point 3.2 that the clause of paying is only if the candidate's hiring gets complete. It made me really question a whole lot of things and request a cb from him and sanjeeb. I was promised a call on monday or tuesday and i am still awaiting to hear even after sending a couple of reminders since.

Now let me clarify the whole dispute in as brief as i can

1. The candidate was 1st sourced by hnh in oct 2018 (Acknowledged on email not just by sonali but also by sanjeeb)
2. The candidate was then hired by karvy in the month of dec 2018 (Which puts him well with in the 6 months lock in period of the billing clause to hnh)
3. Hnh is being denied time and again the billing details for this candidate although clause 3.5 clearly states - "the cvs supplied by the consultant shall be valid for a period of six months from the date on which the cvs were sent. These shall be in the form of an attachment to an e-mail (Preferably) or hard copy (With date and stamp of the consultant on top of the cv). During this period, the client reserves the right to hire the person, if found suitable, for any of its group companies, affiliates and fees as laid out in this agreement will be paid to the consultant." akshata, sonali and sanjeeb have all confirmed that he was in fact shared by hnh placement pvt ltd first hence as per this clause he remains billable for a period of 6 months if selected.
4. Clause 3.2 has been cherry picked to deny the above clause. 3.2 states - "the services search fees will be payable by client upon the successful completion of the search. The search will be deemed as completed upon joining of the candidate."
My question to this is very clear, if the candidate is not selected at 1 location only then would he be hired at a 2nd or a 3rd or an affiliate location and in this case since he is hired, the search is deemed complete - also no where in the entire contract does it say that if the candidate is rejected / disqualified at 1 location he is not billable for us on the contrary the clause 3.5 safeguards my interest and states - during this period, the client reserves the right to hire the person, if found suitable, for any of its group companies, affiliates and fees as laid out in this agreement will be paid to the consultant.
5. Karvy has failed to maintain an internal database due to which these leaders are grossly neglecting the lock in period clause, although this glaring gap in process is none of my company's concern however as a vendor i have all the rights to bill the candidate under clause 3.5's - 6 month lock in period of hire at any of its group companies, affiliates and fees as laid out in this agreement. I am feel that my company is being penalized for the lack of a internal database, by being denied the billable details for this candidate.
6. Even after repeated explanations of the entirety of both these clauses and attempts to contact karvy i am still awaiting the candidate details for billing.

I am writing in to you not to complain but to bring some sanity to this conversation as you being the legal team would in fact know the contract and laws better and would see the gap (Which i have highlighted 2-3 times) in the whole dispute of not having a centralized database to maintain sourcing data and duplication to avoid such scenarios in the future.

I really hope that you will see through the entire dispute and do the right thing of instructing the team to share the billing details of the said candidate amandeep singh with hnh placement pvt. Ltd the first and rightful billers as per the legally binding contract. I am attaching the 2 email chains that i have had as conversation with everyone at karvy and the candidate where i have tried my best to explain the whole thing from a very clear legal point of view. Please also note i have all call recordings, sms, whatsapp and a whole lot information should you need to review this further. Also attached is the contract copy which clearly shows what i am claiming is not an illegal or false thing. I have made it very clear to both sanjeeb and mr. Panigrahi that i will not let this matter rest and if required will take the necessary steps to get paid for this candidate however, even post that i have been neglected and a closure is still being sought by me in this matter and hence my email to you.

Hoping to get a favorable response from you at your earliest convenience. Please email me at harold. [protected]@hnhplacement.com also copy my partner hazel wilson at hazel. [protected]@hnhplacement.com for the entire email trail, call recordings, sms and whatapp trails of this matter.

With best regards,

Harold wilson
Founder director
Hnh placement pvt. Ltd.