#e4mExclusive:  Dentsu South Asia CEO Harsha Razdan holds town halls after IT raids

Dentsu South Asia CEO Harsha Razdan held multiple town halls with employees following the Income Tax department's multi-city searches at the advertising group's offices. He thanked employees for their cooperation and unity during the exercise, people familiar with the matter said.

The company held the townhall to reassure employees following a search operation that lasted several days and involved examining personal and financial records, electronic devices and data stored on servers across Dentsu's India operations.

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Razdan told employees that the company would get through the current situation and that things would settle, according to people aware of the interaction. He also praised employees for standing together and cooperating during the Income Tax searches.

The development comes as Dentsu works to restore normalcy following the searches, which began at its Mumbai and Delhi offices and subsequently involved other locations. Around 20 Income Tax officials had entered Dentsu's Mumbai office during the operation and examined financial and digital records, including data stored on servers. Employees had also been asked to work from home amid the searches.

e4m reached out to dentsu for a response on the matter but no formal communication was received till the time of publication. 

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‘Company will bounce back’

According to employees familiar with the townhall, Razdan's message was largely focused on reassurance and continuity rather than discussing the specifics of the Income Tax investigation.

He acknowledged the disruption caused to employees and apologised for the inconvenience they had experienced during the searches.

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The Dentsu South Asia chief also thanked employees for the manner in which they handled the situation, particularly those directly affected by the searches at the company's offices.

An employee who attended the townhall said the interaction helped provide some reassurance after several days of uncertainty.

"After everything that happened, people wanted to hear directly from the leadership. The message was that we should stay together, focus on our work and not let the situation affect the organisation," the employee said on condition of anonymity.

Another employee said Razdan's emphasis on the organisation's ability to recover was intended to reassure staff who had been concerned about the potential impact on their jobs and business operations.

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"There was a clear effort to tell employees that this is a difficult phase but not something that defines the company. The assurance was that things will settle and Dentsu will bounce back," the employee said.

The employees requested anonymity because they are not authorised to speak publicly about the internal interaction.

Employees praised for cooperation

The Income Tax operation caused considerable disruption as officials examined documents and electronic devices. Officials restricted employees' movement during parts of the search, seizing and examining personal phones and laptops. Staff were subsequently asked to work from home. 

For employees, the situation had created uncertainty because the company was limited in what it could communicate while the tax authorities were conducting their examination.

"The biggest takeaway was the appreciation for how employees handled the situation. There was a lot of uncertainty and people were naturally anxious, but the leadership acknowledged that employees had remained cooperative and supported each other," a second employee familiar with the town hall said.

The employee added that the interaction was intended to bring some stability after the disruption of the previous days.

Focus remains on business continuity

Razdan's townhall also comes against the backdrop of heightened attention from Dentsu's regional leadership. Earlier, APAC leadership had asked employees in India to work from home while the searches were underway, with employees told that the matter was serious and could not be disclosed. 

The latest townhall indicates a shift in the internal communication from managing the immediate disruption to reassuring employees about the company's ability to continue operations.

"The message was very much about moving forward. There was no discussion that suggested business would stop because of this. The emphasis was on continuing with clients and work while the matter is dealt with," a Dentsu employee said.

The Income Tax department's searches had focused on financial records, technology infrastructure, and government/political-led campaigns. According to people familiar with the operation, investigators examined electronic records and employee devices as part of the wider exercise. The precise transactions under investigation and whether they will result in any tax liability have not been publicly disclosed.

Dentsu India has not publicly disclosed details of the Income Tax investigation.

Searches raise industry-wide attention

The searches have attracted significant attention in India's advertising industry given Dentsu's size and the group's extensive operations across media, creative, digital and marketing services.

The operation also comes against a backdrop of previous regulatory scrutiny involving Dentsu India. The Income Tax department had searched the company's Mumbai office in 2022 in connection with an investigation involving one of its clients, while the Enforcement Directorate searched premises linked to Dentsu India in December 2024 in a money-laundering investigation involving an alleged ₹137-crore embezzlement case.

Dentsu has previously maintained in relation to the 2021 matter that it involved alleged fraudulent activity by third parties and former employees associated with a specific business unit.

The company has also been under the scanner of the Competition Commission of India in a separate matter concerning competition practices in the advertising industry. Dentsu had filed a leniency plea in that matter, but there is no established link between the CCI proceedings and the current Income Tax operation. 

For now, the internal focus at Dentsu is on restoring normal business operations and maintaining employee confidence.

The townhall, according to employees who attended it, was therefore less about providing details of the ongoing tax investigation and more about assuring staff that the organisation remains operational and that the leadership expects the company to move past the disruption.

"The tone was reassuring. The message was essentially that everyone has gone through a difficult few days, but the company has the ability to recover and come back stronger," another employee said.

The Income Tax department has not publicly detailed the outcome of the searches or indicated whether any tax liability has been established. Dentsu India has also not issued a detailed public statement on the investigation.