Despite Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal’s public clarification that the company respects all forms of religious expression, allegations from employees have fuelled a growing backlash over internal dress code of the organisation.
Recent claims from former and current employees suggested that religious symbols such as kalawas, bindis and tikas were being penalised during store audits. While Lenskart has denied that any official HR policy targets religious expression, the accounts shared online describe a different experience during audits and evaluations.
One of the posts that brought the matter into focus came from former flagship store manager in Pune, Harsh Hatekar, who described a specific audit incident linked to kalawas. Kalawas are sacred cotton threads tied around the wrist in Hindu tradition, often worn after temple visits or religious rituals.
“I was the manager of a flagship store in Pune. At Lenskart, third-party audits are conducted to check grooming standards. In October 2024, my store lost points specifically because we were wearing kalawas (sacred threads); the audit was conducted by a person named Ayush Verma,” Hatekar wrote on X.
A second account, reported by OfficeChai, came from another former Store Manager in Pune, Akash Falake, who raised concerns with the company’s HR team about what he described as uneven treatment of religious symbols under the dress code.
“I would like to bring to your attention that there are certain company rules that I am not comfortable with and find difficult to understand. Specifically, I have noticed that wearing a hijab is allowed, but wearing a bindi or tika is not permitted. Since these are a part of Indian cultural and traditional practices, I feel the policy should treat all such expressions fairly and equally,” Falake had written to Lenskart’s HR in an email dated 25th February.
According to the report, Lenskart initially responded verbally and said the matter would be reviewed within 30 days, but no written confirmation followed. Falake later sent follow-up emails after not receiving a formal update.
“Despite clearly highlighting the issue earlier, it is still being observed that during store audits, marks are being deducted when a woman is wearing a bindi or a man is wearing a tika. These deductions are leading to store failure in audits, which in turn results in salary impact, incentive cuts, and performance rating reductions for store employees,” He reportedly wrote in an email dated 1st February 2026.
Falake also reached out to the company’s legal team but said he did not receive any clear response. On 20 February 2026, he filed a complaint through the Maharashtra government’s Samadhan Portal regarding workplace concerns. He has alleged that his employment was terminated on the same day, within hours of submitting the complaint, which he claims amounted to retaliation without due process or a fair hearing.
This Lenskart controversy erupted after a user on X shared what was described as Lenskart’s internal Style Guide. The document reportedly allowed black hijabs and black turbans but did not permit religious tikka, tilak, or bindi.
Following the backlash, Peyush Bansal issued a clarification addressing both the document and the allegations. He said, “The document currently circulating is an outdated internal training document. It is not an HR policy. That said, it contained an incorrect line about bindi/tilak that should never have been written and does not reflect our values or actual practice. When we discovered this on February 17, well before this became a public conversation, we immediately removed it. But I should have caught this earlier.”
Bansal further explained, “Lenskart was built in Bharat, by Indians, for Indians. Every symbol and every tradition our people carry is a part of who we are as a company. I will never let that be compromised.”
The company has not issued any further detailed response on the individual allegations made by employees so far.