Enraged over their income taking a hit, over 40 local brokers attacked the office premises of online real estate firm NoBroker in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Around 40-50 brokers gathered and tried to forcefully enter the office premises with the intent of damaging property, battering employees and disrupting work, the firm said in a statement.
The brokers also resorted to verbal and physical assault when the start-up founders and its employees tried to stop them.
After some of its employees were assaulted by the brokers, the company called up the police who averted the situation from turning worse. NoBroker employs nearly 90 people at its Bengaluru office, which is also its headquarters.
"In the age of internet and mobile penetration, this assault in an attempt to hamper technology based evolution," said NoBroker.
"This is clearly an indication of the disruption that NoBroker is causing in the real estate market which is leading to huge savings for the customer and the pinch is felt by the brokers."
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that businessmen have revolted against new-age technology start-ups. In one such incident, cab and auto rickshaw drivers had protested against taxi-hailing firm Ola and Uber for eating into their income, Livemint reported.
NoBroker is a broker-free property portal that allows customers to contact property owners directly by eliminating the middleman. The company has claimed that its services saves the customers over Rs 15 crore in brokerage every month. It operates in four cities Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai.
NoBroker's estimates show that Indians pay nearly $4 billion in brokerage in the top 25 cities annually.
