Applicability Of Gratuity Act For Start-ups

I work for a startup which is a subsidiary of a listed company.
Currently in the start-up, we have 7 employees out of which 4 have been transferred from the parent company and have been working in the parent company for more than 5 yrs, the other 3 are new employees.
we plan to have around 50 employees by the year end and a total of 150 by the end of 2 yrs.
Currently, deductions are being made from our CTC for gratuity.
My queries are as follows-
Is the gratuity act applicable to the this start-up (since we have only 7 employees as on date)?
If it not applicable then what happens to the deduction on account of gratuity to the old employees?
Request to please answer

As per Statutory , Minimum of 10 employees are necessary. In your Case there are only 7 employees but as your employer is deducting some amount in the name of gratuity,you can claim gratuity from the employer.
Thanks and Regards
Narendar

In such a case the gratuity deducted is an incorrect deduction and one can enquire about the funds collected as gratuity.The employer can later refuse to pay as it was not applicable as per the law.