In an e-mail to employees sent yesterday, NDTV promoters Radhika and Prannoy Roy said the company needed to cut flab and control costs. “…this is the time to streamline our operations, excise any flab that the system may have gained in the boom times and return to being a lean, tough, strong, efficient and compassionate organisation,” they said.
The company has frozen recruitments. Its senior management has apparently volunteered to take a 20 per cent cut in salaries for the year 2009. “Our salary costs are already far too high — higher than our counterparts in the industry. There is, you will agree, substantial flab too at NDTV…” the email stated.
The travel and telephone bills are a very large part of NDTV’s expenditure. A company source said the company spent nearly Rs 6 crore a year as expenditure on taxies, which is being reviewed by the company.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
NDTV has clarified that its expenditure on taxis is Rs 6 crore per annum and not Rs 6 crore per month as wrongly stated in this report. We regret the error. Also, the expenditure on taxis is being reviewed by the company and is not under the scanner of any other entity.