No to bindi, yes to hijab: Lenskart under fire over employee guide

A Lenskart employee grooming guide that reportedly permits staff to wear a black hijab at its stores while banning bindis, tilaks, and kalawas has triggered a sharp backlash online, with users accusing the eyewear retailer of religious bias.

The document, identified as page 11 of the Lenskart Academy Style Guide, explicitly states: "Religious tikka/tilak and Bindi/Sticker is not allowed." It simultaneously permits hijabs, provided they are black, and black turbans. The guide also carries instructions on arm coverage, hair nets and accessories, suggesting it was a detailed operational document intended for store staff.

Who flagged the document?

A popular social media personality, Shefali Vaidya, was among the first to flag the document, writing on X: "I checked with two different AI platforms and they think these appear to be authentic and are from the Lenskart academy style guide."

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She later confirmed its authenticity, adding: "This is what Peyush Bansal tells his employees — hijab is okay, but bindi/tilak/kalawa is not, for a company that exists in Hindu majority Bharat, where most of the employees and consumers are Hindu."

Bansal responds; critics push back

Lenskart founder Peyush Bansal moved quickly to distance the company from the document, writing on X: "This document does not reflect our present guidelines. Our policy has no restrictions on any form of religious expression, including bindi and tilak."

He called the circulating version an "outdated internal training document" and not an HR policy, adding that the offending line "should never have been written". Bansal said the company had identified and removed it on February 17, before it became public.

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However, his clarification did little to pacify critics, many of whom noted that the document bore a February 2026 date. "Can you upload the latest version here, now? Or which version you are implementing now in the company? The document available to the public was uploaded in feb (sic) 2026. I'm very curious to know the latest grooming guide version and its details," wrote one user.

Vaidya pressed further, asking why Bansal had not released the revised guidelines to prove the old document was no longer in use and why "religious asymmetry was okay then" even if it had since been corrected.

Bansal vows stricter review

In a follow-up post, Bansal accepted personal responsibility. "As Founder and CEO, the responsibility for such lapses is mine," he wrote, adding that he had asked his team to subject all internal training material to stricter review. He also said the company was investigating how the line found its way into the training content in the first place.