India's CoinSwitch crypto exchange cuts 44 customer support roles due to reduced trading activity and the ongoing crypto winter. This follows a recent staff reduction by CoinDCX, highlighting challenges in India's crypto environment.

CoinSwitch cited redundancy in roles because of the lack of customer queries triggered by the bear market. In a statement, CoinSwitch emphasized the importance of staying competitive and prioritizing innovation, value, and customer service. They decided to downsize their customer support team to align with their platform's current volume of customer queries.

Consequently, 44 support team members voluntarily resigned after detailed discussions with their managers.

The reduction in staff accounts for roughly 8% of CoinSwitch's total headcount, which amounts to 519 employees, according to their LinkedIn page. CoinSwitch has not responded immediately to comments from Cointelegraph regarding the layoffs.

CoinSwitch's downsizing follows a similar move by another major local exchange, CoinDCX, which also recently cut its staff by 12%.

CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal announced on August 22 that they were reducing the size of their team due to market challenges. The domestic exchanges in India have also experienced the impact of the 1% tax deducted at source (TDS), which targets local crypto exchanges.

CoinDCX implemented various proactive measures to cope with the situation, including cost optimization and investment in automation to enhance efficiency and productivity.

Regarding the impacted employees, CoinDCX assured them of a support package that includes severance pay equivalent to the full notice period, an additional month of salary, an extension of health insurance, and other forms of support.

India's decision to impose a 30% tax on crypto gains in 2022 has caused a significant decline in crypto trading activity and led to the departure of many cryptocurrency service providers. The challenges that CoinSwitch and CoinDCX face highlight the difficult environment faced by Indian crypto exchanges due to market conditions and regulatory factors.

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