On March 7, a 3D designer named Mayank Singh accused natural honey brand HoneyVeda of not paying him for work he did for them as a freelancer. HoneyVeda has disputed his account, claiming that Mayank’s work did not meet technical specifications and that he refused to take feedback.
Mayank shared a recording of a video call with HoneyVeda’s CEO, Hardik Joshi, and another executive named Vivek Rajoria, on the social media platform X. On the call, he confronted them for not clearing his payment.
Hardik Joshi, the Ahmedabad-based founder and CEO of HoneyVeda, seemingly dropped out of the call when confronted. Vivek Rajoria, a graphic designer with HoneyVeda, spoke to Mayank and said that 50% of the payment had been issued as Mayank had only completed half of the work. As the freelancer continued to press for full payment, Rajoria used an abusive word.
The differences in freelancer’s and company’s accounts
Mayank shared a video recording of the call on X yesterday, highlighting toxicity in the world of freelance. He claimed that he had been stiffed of payment even though “Everything was delivered fully documented and completed”.
In a statement to HT.com, HoneyVeda CEO said that the project went through multiple revisions due to technical issues in the freelancer’s work, including dimensional and structural inaccuracies.
He confirmed that only half the payment had been done as the work delivered by Mayank was unusable. Joshi further stated that HoneyVeda did not use any of the freelancer’s work in any of their products, website, or marketing materials.
The viral video
Mayank’s video, which shows the CEO of HoneyVeda dropping off the call, has garnered nearly half a million views on the social media platform X.
However, Joshi told HT.com that he had joined the call by mistake. He was, instead, supposed to have a call with another Mayank. “I was supposed to join Mr. Mayank Batavia who was a freelancer for HoneyVeda earlier and is now my mentee at 4 pm. And he was waiting there. I quickly arranged a new meeting link,” he wrote.
Freelancer alleges ghosting, delays
In his account of the incident, the freelancer Mayank said that he did some work for HoneyVeda in August 2025.
“The workflow was standard: 50% upfront, 50% after delivery. Everything was delivered fully documented and completed,” he wrote.
“After delivery, the person I was directly working with this guy Vivek Rajoria — suddenly changed the narrative. The project was apparently ‘not complete’ anymore, despite receiving 100% of the deliverables,” the designer claimed.
He added that HoneyVeda’s CEO Hardik Joshi did not respond to his emails and WhatsApp messages. “After months of chasing a payment that was already earned, I eventually gave up for my own mental peace,” he said.
Mayank said he was accidentally added to a video call on March 7, which is when he took the opportunity to confront Rajoria and Joshi. “The moment I started speaking: The CEO instantly left the call, then Vivek Rajoria started abusing me, and then he left the call as well. Professionalism at its finest,” he wrote.
HoneyVeda says freelancer was unprofessional
In an emailed statement to HT.com, HoneyVeda refuted Mayank’s account of the incident and said that he intentionally misrepresented facts and beeped out words in the video to make it appear that he was not paid at all.
CEO Hardik Joshi said that Mayank had been paid ₹20,000 upfront, but refused to take feedback and rework his designs as requested.
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WhatsApp messages reviewed by HT.com show that Vivek Rajoria reached out to Mayank in June 2025 to design HoneyVeda’s gifting portfolio.
On July 30, 2025, he was paid ₹20,000. There were some revisions requested in this work thereafter. At one point, he was asked whether he had used calipers for measurements. Mayank responded saying he had used a “normal scale”.
At another point, Rajoria asked the freelancer to “add crease” to the design of what appears to be a gift box. “Bhat wtf,” Mayank responded.
How things became strained
Joshi said that HoneyVeda had not used any of Mayank’s designs anywhere.
“HoneyVeda engaged a freelance 3D artist in mid-2025 to model our product line (honey jars and gift boxes). The agreed workflow was 50% advance, 50% upon completion. An advance of ₹20,000 was duly paid on July 30, 2025, via bank transfer to the freelancer’s HDFC account,” said Hardik Joshi.
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“On September 1, 2025, the engagement was mutually concluded after the freelancer responded to standard design feedback in a manner we considered unprofessional.
“At that point, the project stood at roughly the halfway mark in terms of usable output, which the 50% advance had already accounted for. Importantly, HoneyVeda has not used any of the freelancer’s work in any of our products, website, or marketing materials,” said Joshi.
In a statement posted on the company website, HoneyVeda said: “From 21 August 2025 onward, Mr. Singh made repeated follow-up requests for payment of Invoice 0013. HoneyVeda’s position was that the deliverables under that invoice had not met the agreed specifications.
Communication became strained on both sides. On 1 September 2025, after a series of voice calls, our team member Vivek Rajoria formally ended the working relationship. Mr. Singh’s account omits the context of repeated back-and-forth over quality issues and timelines that preceded this decision.”
HoneyVeda’s full statement
You can read the full statement from HoneyVeda’s Hardik Joshi below:
HoneyVeda engaged a freelance 3D artist in mid-2025 to model our product line (honey jars and gift boxes). The agreed workflow was 50% advance, 50% upon completion. An advance of ₹20,000 was duly paid on July 30, 2025, via bank transfer to the freelancer’s HDFC account.
Over the following weeks, the project required multiple rounds of revision due to persistent technical inaccuracies in the deliverables which included dimensional errors, material inconsistencies, and structural issues with the gift box models. Despite sustained guidance from our design team, the output did not reach the standard required for production use.
On September 1, 2025, the engagement was mutually concluded after the freelancer responded to standard design feedback in a manner we considered unprofessional. At that point, the project stood at roughly the halfway mark in terms of usable output, which the 50% advance had already accounted for. Importantly, HoneyVeda has not used any of the freelancer’s work in any of our products, website, or marketing materials.
Regarding the video in question: The brief clip showing me as a CEO exiting a call lacks critical context. I had joined the meeting by mistake while I was scheduled to be on a separate, pre-arranged call. I exited immediately upon realising the error and this was not a deliberate walkout. I was supposed to join Mr. Mayank Batavia who was a freelancer for HoneyVeda earlier and is now my mentor at 4 pm. And he was waiting there. I quickly arranged a new meeting link.
We also wish to note that the video circulating online was recorded without the knowledge or consent of all participants, and the freelancer’s advance payment of ₹20,000 was deliberately obscured (beeped out) in the video, creating a misleading impression that no compensation was ever provided.
HoneyVeda is a young D2C startup. We deeply respect the freelancer community and have worked with several freelancers while building our brand. This is an isolated contractual disagreement that has unfortunately been amplified without full verification of the facts.
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