Satyam offers discount to its clients

Hyderabad, Jan. 28: The largest client of Satyam Computers, General Electric (GE) has agreed to pay 40 per cent of its bill this month. This will help the sinking Satyam from the salary bill of its employees.

In a desperate move, Satyam is trying to mobilise money to pay its employees by offering discounts to its clients who will pay dues promptly. Another major client of Satyam in the United States Cisco has said that it may not renew its contract with the firm after the end of this quarter in April.

Earlier Satyam was known for not giving up even a single penny while collecting its bills from their clients. Hence now many of it customers are taken aback by its move to offer discount. Group leaders have been asked to offer three per cent discounts to clients who can meet the targets. A client who makes full payment would be given the highest discount.

To mobilise Rs 521 crore for payment of salaries, Satyam has set in 'discount scheme'. “It is discounts galore in Satyam, a company known for its cut-throat functioning," said a source. “It has receivables of about Rs 1,700 crore. Apart from Rs 521 crore for the salary bill, it also requires another Rs 120 crore to meet operational expenses for a month."

Not just GE, other big clients such as Applied Materials, Selecta, Telstra, Malaysian Airlines and British Petroleum have also been attracted with discounts. After Ramalinga Raju confessed fudging of accounts of Satyam, bill payments have been slowed down.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)