Nearly six years after its search listings and deals portal went live, e-commerce site AskMe.com suspended operations on Wednesday citing a lack of funds.

The AskMe Group, has accused its investor, Astro Entertainment Networks Ltd of not making payments.

The group also runs e-commerce site AskMeBazaar, grocery marketplace AskMeGrocery, furniture and home décor portal Mebelkart.

On Monday, several employees and sellers held a protest outside the company’s office in Gurugram here.

“As of now, there is a temporary suspension of operations and we have not been paid our salaries,” an employee told DNA India.

The report said Askme.com failed to pay salaries to its employees and even make payments to its vendors, after its main investor, Malaysia-based Astro Overseas pulled out last month without paying the last tranche of funds to the company.

There is speculation that the 4,000 employees will be out of jobs. An employee of the company told DNA India that they had received no communication from the company about any possible lay-offs.

Astro, according to a livemint.com report, said it had invested USD300 million in Getit Infoservices Pvt. Ltd, which runs AskMe, since 2010, and had criticised AskMe for its inability to make its business profitable despite this investment.

While a reconciliation between the investor and the AskMe Group is not in sight, the Malaysia-based venture intends to appoint a forensic auditor to review Getit Infoservices’ books, according to the report.

Astro Entertainment Networks Ltd (AENL) is the investment vehicle of Astro Overseas Ltd which has assets under management of over USD1 billion.

Astro Overseas is wholly-owned by Astro Holdings Sdn Bhd, a company jointly controlled by Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd and Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

In India, besides AskMe, Astro through its different units has entered into sectors such as broadcasting and telecom.