‘Biggest Scam No One Talks About’: Bengaluru CEO Sparks Debate Over India’s Middle-Class Struggles
‘Biggest Scam No One Talks About’: Bengaluru CEO Sparks Debate Over India's Middle-Class Struggles
In a country where the spotlight often falls on either poverty alleviation or billion-dollar valuations, a hard truth is quietly festering in the background — the silent financial erosion of India’s middle class. This uncomfortable conversation was reignited recently by Ashish Singhal, Group CEO of fintech company PeepalCo, whose viral LinkedIn post struck a nerve online. In it, he laid bare the widening chasm between income growth and real-life expenses for the average middle-income Indian.
“The biggest scam no one talks about? Middle-class salaries,” Singhal wrote. “Over the past 10 years: – The group earning under ₹5L saw a 4% CAGR – ₹5L– ₹1Cr income group has seen just 0.4% CAGR – Food prices? Up nearly 80% – Purchasing power? Cut almost in half – But spending? Up, funded by credit.”
Describing the situation as a “well-dressed decline,” he painted a picture of a generation caught between dreams and dues. “You’re still flying once a year. Still buying a phone. Still paying EMIs,” he added, highlighting how credit and compromises are silently propping up the illusion of financial stability. “Skipping the savings. Delaying doctor visits. To maintain a certain lifestyle.”
While the poor are supported through welfare schemes and the rich grow wealthier through scalable opportunities, Singhal argues that it’s the middle class that bears the economic brunt — quietly and thanklessly.
“The rich are scaling. The middle class is just expected to absorb the shock, in silence. No complaints. No bailouts. Just inflation, EMIs, and quiet pressure,” his post continues.
Social media quickly picked up on the sentiment, with entrepreneurs, professionals, and ordinary citizens chiming in. One founder noted that the middle class is partly responsible for its current predicament by staying silent and conforming. “It’s taken too much on its own and asks too little from the government,” they observed. Another user took a more cynical view: “Crying on any platform won’t make a difference… nothing’s gonna change here.”
A separate CEO took the conversation a step further, questioning whether those in leadership positions, like Singhal himself, were ensuring proportional pay growth for their own employees. “Good one. But, as CEO, what was the pay rise you gave to your employees vis-a-vis yours?” the user asked, sparking a different but important debate about corporate accountability.
The broader message, however, remains focused on a middle class that is increasingly leaning on credit cards and loans just to stay afloat — skipping vacations, delaying medical check-ups, and quietly adjusting their aspirations. This class, which forms the backbone of India’s consumption, savings, and tax revenues, rarely gets dedicated policy attention, despite being a crucial pillar of the nation’s economic engine.
Data shows that the middle class comprised about 31% of India’s population in 2021 and could rise to nearly 60% by 2047. Yet, rising lifestyle costs, medical inflation, and stagnant real wages threaten to destabilize its growth story.
Singhal’s post is not just a lament — it’s a mirror. It reflects a generation that looks successful on paper but is, in many ways, stretched thin in reality. His message isn’t just about rupees and salaries, but about dignity — and the cost of staying quiet.
In a nation sprinting toward superpower status, the middle class isn’t collapsing — it’s slowly shrinking in spirit. And maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop suffering in silence and start asking harder questions — of employers, policymakers, and perhaps even of ourselves.
