<ul><li>The government of <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword> currently imposes 10% <keyword id="935478" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="motor-vehicle-tax">motor vehicle tax</keyword> on four wheelers below ₹10 lakh and 15% on vehicles above the said amount.</li><li>Tamil Nadu accounts for almost 10% of all vehicles registered in India, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.</li><li>A car with a price tag of ₹10 lakh would cost over ₹12.8 by the time you can drive it out of the showroom.</li></ul>The Tamil Nadu government recently released a white paper ⁠— and the state’s Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan echoed the sentiment ⁠— that complained that the tax on motor vehicles in the state had not changed in nearly 15 years. The statement only hints towards one direction, that the government has finally taken notice of the matter that had been lingering around for the past decade and a half. The state — which is also home to the automobile hub of India, Chennai — may also take some action to fix this in the near-future. The small to midsize-car owners and makers of cars ranging upto ₹20 Lakh — may still be able to sail past these potential policy updates. But the risk is much higher for luxury car owners and makers like Mercedes, BMW and any other car maker that sells cars at more than ₹20 lakhs a unit. This could even include the high-end cars from Indian auto giants like Tata Motors and Mahindra. If the Tamil Nadu government decides to act on the white paper, it would make at least one in every 10 cars sold in the country more expensive, at a time when car sales have been slow for over three years. Tamil Nadu is the third largest state in terms of vehicle registration , according to data <a href="https://vahan.parivahan.gov.in/vahan4dashboard/">shared</a> by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. As per the data, Tamil Nadu accounts for 10% of vehicles registered between 2017 to August 12 of 2021. Notably, Tamil Nadu currently charges 10% motor vehicle tax on vehicles below ₹10 lakh and 15% tax rate on vehicles above ₹10 lakh. The current car taxation policy in Tamil Nadu: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Costs/Taxes </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amount </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Cost of car </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹10,00,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Motor Vehicle Tax in Tamil Nadu (at 10% rate) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,00,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">GST* (at 18% rate) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,80,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Road Safety Tax </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1500 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fee </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹600 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Service Charge </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹200 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹12,82,300 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>*GST ranges between 18-28% based on the size and engine power of the car. The government charges 28% GST or above on sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and luxury cars. As it is visible above, a car with a price tag of ₹10 lakh would be worth ₹12,82,300 by the time you can drive it out of the showroom. This also includes the Goods and Service Tax (GST) imposed by the Union government and split with the state government. Now, Finance Minister Thiagrajan’s worry is that the state is losing revenue and many people from neighbouring states like Kerala and Karnataka are registering their cars in Tamil Nadu because the taxes are lower. The Tamil Nadu government expects to collect a little over ₹6500 crore taxing new motor vehicles by FY22, Finance Minister Thiagarajan said in his state budget speech this week. He also added that the government expects a 12% growth rate in such revenue in each of the next two years. Tax on four wheelers in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><col /><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">States </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">For vehicles four wheelers upto ₹5 lakhs </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">For purchase value upto ₹10 lakhs </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">For vehicles between ₹15-₹20 lakhs </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">For vehicles above ₹20 lakh </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"><a href="https://tnsta.gov.in/taxes_thirdschedule_sub.jsp">Tamil Nadu</a> </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">15% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">15% of purchase price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"><a href="https://www.coverfox.com/personal-finance/tax/road-tax/kerala/">Kerala </a> </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">8% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20% of purchase price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"><a href="https://www.bankbazaar.com/tax/karnataka-road-tax.html">Karnataka</a> </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">13% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">14% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">17% of purchase price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">18% of purchase price </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> While the Tamil Nadu government is talking about taxing motor vehicles in general, the data shows that the multiple tax slab schemes been a major point of difference when compared to Karnataka and Kerala. The multiple tax slabs have allowed both Kerala and Karnataka government to charge much higher motor vehicle tax rate to customers buying luxury cars above ₹20 lakh. The other interesting bit here is that while Karnataka taxes motor vehicles more, it still ranks right after Tamil Nadu in terms of the number of vehicles registered in the state. This shows that the tax alone may not be the determining factor. As per the data <a href="https://vahan.parivahan.gov.in/vahan4dashboard/">shared</a> by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Karnataka earned ₹49,782 crore and Tamil Nadu earned ₹44,031 crore in the same period. Kerala, despite not being mentioned as one of the top five states in terms of vehicle registration, was the fifth biggest collector with ₹30,950 crore revenue between the same time frame. Meanwhile, Tamil movie stars <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/tamil-actor-vijay-gets-relief-from-madras-high-court-in-rolls-royce-ghost-car-tax-exemption-plea-case/2298732/">Vijay</a> and <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/dhanush-faces-hc-wrath-for-seeking-tax-exemption-for-imported-rolls-royce-7440719/">Dhanush</a> had recently approached the courts seeking tax waivers on their imported luxury cars. The courts rejected the plea. A slowing economy, lack of mobility due to lockdowns and increased work from home, has kept car sales in India on the slow lane for a while now. <div type="image" title="Tamil Nadu government is upset about losing money on luxury cars" msid="85322721" hostid="261"></div> Car sales growth rate witnessed a 21-year-low dip in December 2019, according to data<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/auto-news/reverse-gear-domestic-car-sales-plunge-for-the-10th-straight-month-down-41-in-august/articleshow/71044021.cms?from=mdr"> shared</a> by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). COVID-19 further resulted in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/covid-19-lockdowns-and-curfews-affecting-worlds-fourth-largest-automobile-market/articleshow/82195326.cms">shutting down </a>of production at original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), disrupted supply chain and reduction in consumer demand. Higher duties in states like Tamil Nadu could deter buyers even more. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-now-has-four-edtech-unicorns-byju-unacademy-eruditis-upgrad/articleshow/85300757.cms">From Byju’s to Eruditus — India now has four edtech unicorns, thanks to a $4 billion funds flowing in since 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/travel-app-ixigo-files-for-a-1600-crore-ipo/articleshow/85292327.cms">Travel app ixigo files for a ₹1,600 crore IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/swiggy-reports-nearly-three-fold-increase-in-annual-revenue-in-neck-and-neck-race-with-zomato/articleshow/85233393.cms">Swiggy reports nearly three-fold increase in annual revenue, in neck and neck race with Zomato</a>

Tamil Nadu government is upset about losing money on luxury cars

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5dc593a43afd377d7979040b-1408/ap653872865503.jpg" alt="kalanick" />Evan Agostini/Invision/APFormer Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday.<ol><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ring-security-after-hacks-let-strangers-watch-talk-girl-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">Amazon-owned Ring has said it will introduce new security features after hackers broke into a camera in an 8-year-old's bedroom, where they could watch and talk to the child</a>. A Tennessee family said that hackers broke into a Ring home-monitoring camera in their 8-year-old daughter's bedroom, and the intruders were able to watch and speak to her.</li><li><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/15/ubereats-india-zomato/">Uber is reportedly in talks to sell its Uber Eats delivery business in India to local rival Zomato</a>. According to TechCrunch, the deal currently values Uber Eats' business at $400 million.</li><li><a href="https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/15/google-pauses-chrome-79-rollout-on-android-after-bug-wipes-data-in-some-apps/">Google halted the rollout of the latest version of Chrome, thanks to a bug that wipes user data</a>. The issue has affected Android apps, and resulted in users losing login data.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/googles-waymo-acquires-latent-logic-expands-into-europe-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">Alphabet's self-driving car company Waymo broke ground in Europe by buying Oxford startup Latent Logic</a>. As well as buying up Latent Logic's tech and talent, Waymo announced that it would establish its first European engineering hub. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-employee-data-stolen-payroll-data-thief-car-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">The banking information of 29,000 Facebook employees was stolen in 'smash and grab' theft from an employee's car</a>. The data was reportedly stored on unencrypted corporate hard drives, which the thief stole from a Facebook employee's car.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-changes-employee-compensation-after-tumultuous-fall-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">WeWork is overhauling its employee compensation plan, according to a memo sent to staff on Thursday by its head of people that was seen by Business Insider</a>. The package includes base salary, an annual cash bonus, and annual equity grants. Previously, employees had equity but not through an annual grant system.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turvo-ceo-fired-strip-clubs-spending-75000-eric-gilmore-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">The CEO of a Silicon Valley startup was quietly fired after allegedly spending over $75,000 at strip clubs and charging it to a company credit card</a>. Eric Gilmore, the CEO of Silicon Valley startup Turvo, was fired back in May after it was discovered he spent more than $75,000 at strip clubs and expensed it, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-13/a-startup-fired-its-ceo-for-expensing-76-120-at-strip-clubs">Bloomberg reported</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-free-genetic-testing-employees-color-genomics-report-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">Apple is reportedly rolling out a new perk for employees: free genetic testing at its on-site wellness clinics</a>. The free genetic tests, which will reportedly be carried out through a partnership with Color Genomics, are one of many health perks Apple is rolling out for its workers.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travis-kalanick-liquidates-millions-of-dollars-worth-of-uber-stock-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">Uber's co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick sold off close to $166 million shares over the last week, continuing to offload his stake in the ride-sharing giant</a>. The ousted chief executive has sold off a little more than $2 billion worth of Uber stock since the company's post-IPO lockup period in early November, an act that has rapidly liquidated his stake in the company. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-owner-bytedance-testing-music-app-resso-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">ByteDance, the $75 billion company that owns TikTok, has been trialling a new music app called "Resso."</a> Resso has been rolled out in India and Indonesia, and a spokesperson said it's still in its beta-testing phase. </li></ol>Have an Amazon Alexa device? Now you can hear 10 Things in Tech each morning. Just search for "Business Insider" in your Alexa's flash briefing settings.You can also <a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/free">subscribe to this newsletter</a> here - just tick "10 Things in Tech You Need to Know." <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cooked-entire-thanksgiving-dinner-using-google-home-hub-2018-11">I tried cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner using Google Home Hub and found there are 2 major flaws with it</a></h3> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/PMUC6BwZ-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;"></iframe>

10 things in tech you need to know today

<ul><li><keyword id="143842" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mobikwik">Mobikwik</keyword>, a digital payments company, has said that its payment gateway business has turned profitable. </li><li>With an IPO in mind, the company is now aiming for a ₹1.4 lakh crore annual payment volume from the payment gateway business.</li><li>Earlier in July, Mobikwik had reported a funding of ₹8.67 crores. </li></ul>Mobikwik, one of India’s leading digital payments companies, has claimed that its payment gateways vertical had turned profitable since April 2019. “Our focus on building the best tech stack for our merchants is evident in the growth and success of our Payment Gateway business. Our product and user experience (UX) philosophy is to keep the user experience simple and ultra fast. Payment Gateway is one of our fastest growing verticals and will play an instrumental role in our path to profitability,” said Upasana Taku, Co-Founder, MobiKwik. With this, the payments company now aims to ₹1.4 lakh crore annual payment volume for its payment gateway business. As a payment gateway, Mobikwik finds clients in businesses like Uber, IRCTC, Dream11, Bajaj Finance, Zomato, Grofers, Blue Dart, Delhivery, Dominos, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, etc. “Over 94 million unique cards are saved on MobiKwik PG platform; this includes 20 million credit cards which is 50% of all credit cards issued in India,” said the company’s official statement. In July, the company had also announced a new round of funding of ₹8.67 crore from Trifecta Capital and NDTV. Its previous investors include Sequoia Capital and American Express among others. According to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/ipos/fpos/ahead-of-ipo-mobikwik-scouts-for-investor-eyes-profit-from-fy21/articleshow/69810493.cms?from=mdr">reports</a>, Mobikwik is also planning to head for an IPO in the next three years. "We are looking for an investor who will help the company go for an initial public offering (IPO) in three years," co-founder and chief executive Bipin Preet Singh told <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/ipos/fpos/ahead-of-ipo-mobikwik-scouts-for-investor-eyes-profit-from-fy21/articleshow/69810493.cms?from=mdr">ET.</a> Mobikwik finds competition from the likes of Paytm, PayU and Razorpay in the payment gateway business. Paytm claims to hold over 50% of the market share and has said that it does 400 million transactions per month; is five times more than its next competitor. A report by Credit Suisse Group AG says that the Indian digital payments market will increase five-fold from the current $200 billion to $1 trillion by the year 2023. This has also resulted in many international players eyeing the Indian market like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/google-wallet-creator-osama-bediers-startup-poynt-will-launch-in-india-in-2019/articleshow/68145220.cms">Osama Bedier's Poynt.</a> Bedier is also credited to be the creator of the Google Wallet. In June 2019, Mobikwik had also partnered with DT One, a global B2B network for mobile recharge, giving its users the opportunity to recharge their phones in 150 countries. MobiKwik’s competitor in India, Paytm had already entered two international markets – Canada and Japan.

Heading for an IPO, Mobikwik reports a profit in its payment gateway business

<ul><li>India’s new <keyword id="10824385" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="carbonwatch-mobile-app">CarbonWatch mobile app</keyword> helps users calculate their <keyword id="10824388" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="individual-carbon-footprint">individual carbon footprint</keyword> but still leaves a lot to be desired.</li><li>The primary issue is that it does not account for people who may be renting an individual room or only a part of the house.</li><li>In effect, the overall <keyword id="6404408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Carbon-footprint">carbon footprint</keyword> score it provides is for the entire household, not for individual consumption.</li></ul><keyword id="10824387" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="carbonwatch">CarbonWatch</keyword> is India’s first mobile application to help users understand their individual carbon footprint. It takes in details like water consumption, energy use, waste segregation, and transport to tell you the extent of your <keyword id="6375918" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="carbon-emissions">carbon emissions</keyword>. <div type="image" title="2" msid="81203358" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Start up screen of CarbonWatch mobile application&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The application can be used by anyone across the country, but the data offered up by the residents of Chandigarh will be used to compile a study assessing consumption. The results of the study will help the Union Territory (UT) formulate targeted programs that will address the sensitisation of residents to climate changes and mitigation strategies, claims the application. Once you have shared your details, like the amount of water you consume per month, it gives you a score of between 0 to 10 — your carbon footprint. This is the amount of carbon dioxide you are likely to have released into the atmosphere as a result of your activities. While one can understand the appeal of self-assessment, there are limitations within the app that could misrepresent your actual carbon score. How does the CarbonWatch mobile application work? You can download CarbonWatch from the Google Play Store. Apple users will have to wait a little longer for it to be available on iOS. <div type="image" title="3" msid="81203420" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;CarbonWatch is only available for download on the Google Play Store, not on the iOS App Store&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> While signing up, you will have to provide your phone number and your email address. The one-time-password to verify your identity, however, will only be delivered on your email ID. <div type="image" title="4" msid="81203435" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;While signing up for CarbonWatch it is necessary to include both your phone number and email address&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Once you have been verified, you can login and start to calculate your carbon footprint. The app will ask you for the following details: 1. The average units of fresh water billed per month and whether or not you have your own borewell. <div type="image" title="5" msid="81203479" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;For water consumption, CarbonWatch asks for the average kilolitres of fresh water consumed per month&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> 2. The monthly billing average of electricity units and what kind of cooking connection you use . <div type="image" title="6" msid="81203497" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;CarbonWatch asks for monthly average of electricity used but does not account for the fact there may be multiple members living in one household&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> 3. The monthly distance travelled by bus, monthly distance travelled by train, monthly distance travelled by autorickshaw and annual travel by flight in hours. 4. If you drive a car — the type of fuel you use, the year of manufacturing, mileage, the average distance travelled in a month and whether or not you carpool. 5. If you ride a two-wheeler — the type of fuel you use, the year of manufacturing, mileage, the average distance travelled in a month and if someone rides pillion with you <div type="image" title="7" msid="81203524" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;CarbonWatch accounts for all modes of transport&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> 6. Whether or not you segregate your household waste <div type="image" title="8" msid="81203538" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;While CarbonWatch asks whether or not an individual segregates their waste, it does not ask for the amount of waste generated&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Once all those details are in, the app will calculate your final carbon footprint. In this case — with about 20 hours of air travel, monthly power consumption of 350 units, 135 kilolitres of water, and very little local travel— we got a score of 6.61 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per person per year. <div type="image" title="9" msid="81203550" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BI India&amp;#39;s carbon footprint score on CarbonWatch&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Issues we faced while using CarbonWatch For starters, there was a server issue that did not let us sign up for an account in the first place. After reaching out to Sparrow Analytics, the mobile app publisher, we were informed that it was a ‘server issue’ which was fixed shortly after. Also, the function of providing your mobile number if the one-time password (OTP) will be sent on the email ID seems redundant. Users should have the option of providing one or the other. Necessitating both seems like an unnecessary load on data collection. The <keyword id="10824384" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="limitations-of-carbonwatch">limitations of CarbonWatch</keyword> While obviously helping a person gauge their carbon footprint and how their activities affect the environment around them, the CarbonWatch mobile app is not the most user-friendly — not in terms of the user interface, but the calculations. For instance, the carbon footprint score does not change even when you adjust the number of family members in a single household. This means the details of water consumption, electricity use, and gas consumption are not averaged out. The overall score is not for an individual, but the entire household. The app also only shows the latest recorded emission score. There is no historical data or a way to keep track of whether your emission score has gone up or down if you’ve changed the input values. Comparative charts and the ability to export data would go a long way in helping people track their progress. <div type="image" title="carbonwatch (1)" msid="81203730" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;CarbonWatch only displays the most recently recorded carbon emission score&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> For instance, your electricity and water consumption is likely to be higher during the summer than during the winter months — but there is no way for me, as an individual, to track that change and the resulting effect on my carbon footprint within the app. The app also does not let you take screenshots. This means the only way for you to track the changes in your carbon footprint is to note down the score manually or take pictures using secondary devices. Now, about the actual inputs. CarbonWatch asks users for their average units of freshwater billed per month in kilolitres. That means you need to have your utility bill on hand. There are no comparative guidelines on how you may be able to gauge your consumption based on how many buckets of water you use per month. The reason this is important is because not everyone rents an entire house, especially students or bachelors. They usually have a single room or only a part of the house for use. Hence, they may not necessarily have access to the utility bill. And, even if they do have access to it, the entire consumption of water does not rest on their shoulders. The same applies to the consumption of electricity. It would be easier if the app asked users what kind of lights they use (LED, CFL or other ordinary bulbs), how many are in the room or house, and how many hours, on average, they are switched on for. And, while it is useful to ask whether or not a user is segregating their waste, the app doesn’t ask for an estimate of how much waste is being produced in the first place. A score of 6.61 fairly high. And, the only basis of comparison is worldwide averages. In our case, it was much higher than India’s average of 1.81 or even the global average of 4.74 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. <div type="image" title="carbonwatch" msid="81203744" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Carbon footprint score is only compared to global averages&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> While helpful, it would be better if the consumption could be compared according to the locality you live in. It would help you gauge if others in your area have a similar carbon footprint or not. If not, it would be more insightful to know what other households are doing differently than have general guidelines thrown up on the screen. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/rbi-wants-you-to-memorise-all-your-debit-and-credit-card-numbers/articleshow/81186570.cms">RBI wants you to memorise all your debit and credit card numbers — Amazon, Zomato, Netflix and others argue this will make online payments more tedious</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/indian-government-wants-its-it-hardware-industry-to-be-as-globally-successful-as-tcs-hcl-tech-and-infosys-announces-pli-scheme-worth-7250-crore/articleshow/81189588.cms">Indian government wants its IT hardware industry to be as globally successful as TCS, HCL Tech and Infosys — announces PLI scheme worth ₹7,250 crore</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/covid-19-vaccination-for-senior-citizens-to-start-from-march-1-in-india-will-be-free-at-government-hospitals/articleshow/81189035.cms">COVID-19 vaccination for senior citizens to start from March 1 in India — will be free at government hospitals</a>

CarbonWatch — India’s first mobile app to calculate your carbon footprint falls short of its promises

<ul><li>With Google, Apple and Firefox putting an end to third-party cookies, the future of the ad tech industry seems to be cookie-less. </li><li>At the same time, with digital advertising seeing an astronomical demand after COVID, ad frauds in our country are also increasing. </li><li>Airtel’s <keyword id="10821983" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-adtech-platform-airtel-ads">new AdTech platform Airtel Ads</keyword> is promising zero ad frauds to its clients. </li><li>We spoke to Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, <keyword id="6354287" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharti-airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> to find out how it is going to deliver the promise of zero <keyword id="3381776" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ad-Fraud">ad fraud</keyword> to its clients, goals for this fiscal and focus areas for FY22. </li></ul>After COVID-19 disrupted the world and India entered into a lockdown, all businesses shifted their marketing monnies to digital mediums. It wasn’t just an outreach medium, it became an integral part of their marketing strategy. Today, marketers are bundled with piles of data. However, as the importance of digital marketing increased at an astronomical rate, advertising budgets slashed. So, with the pressure to increase advertising effectiveness, meet client’s expectations and their strict deadlines, ad frauds have also shot up in our country. In 2020, reduced marketing budgets led to lower fraud rates across all apps, improved preventive measures also contributed to a decline in mobile frauds. This year, according to App Flyer, frauds will remain a serious issue as the marketing budgets have started recovering. 20% of all mobile advertising spends in India are wasted on fraudulent impressions and clicks, revealed Mobile Marketing Association. According to market research firm techARC and fraud detection and elimination platform mFilterIt, ad fraud in India will grow to an average of 45%-55% amidst the industry’s recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic. This new prediction is a stark rise from the country’s current ad fraud. Travel, entertainment, and finance were the most affected verticals and will remain most vulnerable to fraud this year. However, Bharti Airtel’s new AdTech platform ‘<keyword id="3285315" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel-Ads">Airtel Ads</keyword>’ is promising zero ad fraud to its clients. According to Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, the first step of avoiding an ad fraud is honesty and transparency. Telling us how the telco will deliver on the promise, Nair said, “If the marketers were a little more careful about where they invested their money, they could avoid ad fraud. But unfortunately, they also push to see impressions and results. And this is where that behaviour starts. However, inside Airtel, there cannot be ad fraud. It is a home-grown system, we are not allowing any of these technologies into our system. We are building everything from ground up. So there's no affiliate, no third-party, it is entirely monitored by us. So when an advertiser comes to us and says, I would like to interact with the youth, and they want to touch 1 million premium views, we will touch 1 million premium views. And if we cannot, we will tell the advertiser, sorry, I don't think we can get to 1 million but we can promise 5,00,000 instead. We're okay with that. This is why I am confident that inside the Airtel app, there cannot be ad fraud because we are not letting anybody from the outside into our system. It is a completely closed system in which our preferred brands can connect with other quality consumers.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Future of AdTech and Airtel Ads" text="Future of AdTech and Airtel Ads">Future of AdTech and Airtel Ads</cmsannotation> With a massive increase in mobile consumption and digital ad spends, cookies have become the oil that run the whole system. However, with Apple, Firefox’s Mozilla and Google blocking third-party cookies last year, the future seems to be cookie-less. Airtel, however, is not dependent on cookies at all, which Nair believes, makes its ad tech platform future-ready and error-proof. “The minute cookies are removed, the entire way of advertising will change. And the good news is Airtel Ads does not depend on cookies. We are a trusted platform that works only inside the Airtel ecosystem. We work directly with our consumers and our brands so there's no problem of cookies. We have none of the problems that the existing ad tech industry has. We have a first-party completely controlled ecosystem for Airtel Ads. Therefore, the message I'm giving you today could define the way companies actually think about AdTech in the future. They will go to trusted players and stop giving it to affiliates. And trying to launch big campaigns using cookies --- all that's going to stop and it'll slowly move towards how Airtel is doing business,” said Nair. Nair also told us that the future of AdTech will be to build for India, build for outcomes and build for trust. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Planning process of Airtel Ads" text="Planning process of Airtel Ads">Planning process of Airtel Ads</cmsannotation> Airtel’s plan to launch an AdTech platform began two years ago, when Nair joined the company. He realised that the current AdTech ecosystem woos its clients with quantitative results in terms of clicks and actions but customers often don’t find the right brand of their choice and clients don’t find a long-term value from their deals. AdTech platforms also have limited access to digitally-savvy populace, leaving out a massive opportunity with the spenders in the hinterlands. So, Airtel found a perfect bridge in the market to help brands connect with its 320 million customers. Nair said, “Airtel Ads breaks new ground in the USD 10 billion Indian advertising industry. By abstracting Airtel’s unique strengths of quality customers, best-in-class network and world-class digital platforms, Airtel Ads offers innovative channels for brands to reach the right audiences. What truly differentiates Airtel Ads is its razor-sharp focus on quality over quantity and real impact vs vanity metrics.” Airtel Ads was launched as a beta test a few months before COVID and the platform has already worked with 100 clients across multiple categories – FMCG, BFSI, Digital Startups, etc. Early advertisers include PepsiCo, zomato, CRED, Tata AIG, Lenskart, Apollo 247, Cars24, Gameskraft, Vahan and Harley Davidson. It provides omni-channel access through its apps such as Wynk, Xstream, Thanks App and DTH TV ads. In a span of one year, Airtel Ads has delivered 8 billion plus impressions and generated ₹100 crore annualized revenue. On what helped a new platform achieve the Rs 100 crore milestone in a year, Nair answered with a word, ‘patience.’ “Sometimes, people are in a rush to achieve milestones. You think, 'Let's go make things happen'. But while we have a sense of urgency, we also have a lot of patience. For the first interaction, let’s say we get a budget of Rs 2 lakh only. We’ll happily accept that and draft them a plan. Next month, this amount goes up to Rs 5 lakh, it keeps increasing and soon we are sitting on a Rs 1 crore budget from that same client. So, this patience and focus on the right experience for the brand has been our biggest win. And we are seeing brands come in, trying something with us, liking us and slowly scaling. And this is what I call ‘product scale’, where we are not rushing anybody. We are letting the brands come in and take their time to grow with us,” elobarted Nair. With the Indian advertising industry expected to grow to USD 19 billion by 2025 from the current USD 10 billion, Airtel App is eyeing to capture a meaningful share of the growing pie with its sharp focus on quality. Airtel Ads is also working to bring the offline space under its AdTech network to help its clients connect with non-digital savvy users. It is also planning to adopt a pull strategy to attract more clients this year. Sharing Airtel Ads’ goals for this fiscal, Nair said, “By the end of this year, I think we will easily cross into the 150 brands range, because we've got a month and a half left. We will probably be reaching out to another 50-60 brands, they'll all start from financing with us, so we'll probably cross 150. About the targets beyond that, we know the top 100 brands in India who spend most of their money, they are the ones we want to reach out to. For the remaining probably 2000-3000 brands, we will put out scalable solutions for which they can approach us. We don't have to wait for a salesperson to go to them, they can reach out to us, put a budget on the website and get started.” Airtel Ads will also focus on scaling, offer creative solutions that can help its clients engage more with their targeted audience and improve app intelligence. “We have an ambition to scale beyond the digital, get into the offline/retail side. So, we are constantly monitoring the supply increase. We're also very interested in creative ad solutions. I'll give you an example. Take for instance an online concert where 100,000 users are engaging with an artist. While the artist takes a break, can we create a digital game that all the online users can play, which is actually sponsored by let's say a Pepsi? It'd be a fantastic ad format, which creates engagement. People get to learn about a new company while engaging in the game. Creatives Ad will be a focus area within the supply. On the demand front, it is going to be a constant drumbeat. How do we access all the big advertisers and how do we make sure our solution is also available to the small and medium businesses. That journey will never stop. The rest of my time is spent deep on experience. How do we get the right data that we have today to make sure that we understand it better, so that we only connect the right product to the consumer who needs it? This is where a lot of our tech investments will go,” said Nair, signing off.

How Airtel’s AdTech platform is planning to deliver on the promise of ‘zero ad frauds’ to its clients

<ul><li><keyword id="9025059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="abhik-choudhury">Abhik Choudhury</keyword>, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting writes how brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. </li><li>He further shares a few reasons behind this paradigm shift. </li></ul> What do Volkswagen, Volvo, Tata, Ford and GM have in common? They all are reliable family cars with blue logos. How about KFC, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King? They all are global fast food chains with either or both, red and yellow in their identities. And till about a decade ago, it was all fine and dandy till digital content clutter multiplied our brand exposure to a whopping 5000+ on an average day. And that meant the compelling need for acute differentiation over everything else. Let’s look at the topical industry of the year - EdTech. The whole industry came into being post digital burst. And in their identities, whilst catering to the same audiences their approach to <keyword id="9709248" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="brand-colors">brand colors</keyword> couldn’t have been more drastically contrasting. Byju, India’s second most valuable startup at $10Bn adorns a bright purple, something which experts used to put in the segment of richness and royalty. Udemy with its coral shade usually seen in lifestyle brands has intentionally moved away from its launch color of grass green. Coursera on the other end of the spectrum is safely engulfed in the reliable blue (think sweet spot between the old and new Facebook color). And finally look at Khan Academy, a blend of sea green and ocean blue. I would argue brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. And there are four reasons for this major paradigm shift. The Differentiation Paradox: Of course the trained mind might argue the above example is just an anomaly so let’s go back to the automobile category we opened our discussion with to see this point through. In the last decade, the new electric car segment is slowly overpowering old heavyweights. What’s interesting though is as much as these shiny, new kids stand for the same brand promise of blending sleek style, sustainability and automation, their colors try to intentionally stay as apart as possible. Leading the pack Tesla shines in its signature passion red, Faraday Future graces the color of powerplay jet black, Fisker has famously named its brand colors California sunset (orange) and Pacific ocean (blue), the Chinese born Byton decks a more luxurious grey and the adventure friendly Rivian chose orangish yellow. Superdry’s orange boasts of its fun and bold collection, Zara’s black promotes the high street range inspired by luxury fashion weeks. And why not, as the concept of brand colors needed to be synonymous with the “brand experience”. Now though, the audience is aware enough to know that just because Grab taxis are green, they don’t only move with an oil free, electric fleet. Honestly, as long as the story behind your choice of brand color is believable you can paint the canvas with whatever you wish for. Breaking the traditional need for popping colors, Unilever’s new age Talenti Gelato comes in a pure transparent identity to just focus on the product and cut the clutter in the ice cream shelf simultaneously. Ola, India’s answer to Uber uses an exclusive pear color something eponymous with sporty, not exactly a massy cab service using Wagon R &amp; Swift Dzire cars. But does it work? Quite brilliantly actually, the point of differentiation is well made and well reaped. The Niche Maze Before the digital era, market penetration used to be mostly about what the masses demanded. And honestly rightfully so, for neither there was internet to measure the size of niche interests nor a way to get them delivered online to spurt segments scattered all over. And what it has resulted in is making colors more unisex, boldly unique and universally acceptable. Lyft’s Magenta and Dunzo’s Mint Green paves way for many more to come in the coming decade. Let’s try to understand the repercussions of not having niche colors. In the Indian media ecosystem look at the known brands Zee News, NDTV, ABP News, Republic, Aaj Tak, BBC Hindi, The Wire and Firspost ALL have red in their logos. Let’s forget for a second if all these brands have similar personalities, experience or values of the color red. Let’s rather say in 2021 you want to start a media corporation catering to millennials. Don’t you think a berry blue or sunshine yellow will give you a niche identity distinctively apart from all your industry peers and make the consumer immediately associate you with the color no matter on which medium it is used? Reliance Jio certainly would have considered it while starting to slowly move towards Persian blue from its bright red similar to core competitors Airtel and Vodafone. So would have AirBnB while choosing a coral shade over their old blue similar to Booking’s identity. <div type="image" title="Color Logos Case" msid="77389917" hostid="261"></div> Content Overload: One of the most profitable industries inarguably today is the smartphone hub with over 1.5Bn average annual unit sales and still a long way in penetrating the global population. No matter where you are from, you can’t deflect from its plethora of content across platforms. Oppo and Vivo with their selfie camera positioning had planned a budget of INR 2200 crores for the Indian market to dwarf Samsung at its own game. Xiaomi, who finally did overthrow Samsung poured INR 3500 crores last year aiming at an even more aggressive advertising strategy. All pointing towards an inevitable content war subtly numbing the audiences to all headlines and creatives. And hence you see Xiaomi goes with a blazing orange, Oppo graces forest green, One Plus Christmas red, Google Pixel a more humbling grey to Apple’s black while Vivo goes for sailor blue. We aren’t talking about one off anomalies that used to happen in every category like Ferrari’s legendary lemon yellow backdrop whilst Audi, Mercedes, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Jaguar &amp; Lexus all go with the same kind of logo in metallic elements on their cars. These smartphone examples are of all category leaders and none come close to the other’s color no matter how close their audience, personality and brand experience might be. Now one of the major brand identity tests is to create a fictional character with a rich personality to match with your corporation’s values, vision and heart. The catch is, it only works if your audience feels that metaphor coming alive too. Otherwise as you will agree, every horse breeder can sell a Unicorn. And with all due respect the 2020s audiences have evolved from all color tones (and it’s kind of fair if not lovely). Now they are more interested and invested in what you actually do both with your offering and beyond it for the overall society. They know how to filter the frills from the flowers. Typography before color: The formula is minimal typography for maximum impact. Uber tweaked its logo element to a bolder no nonsense font of its name. Indian food delivery pioneers have removed their famous spoon and now just have Zomato written in a thicker and slightly curved style. The legendary Absolut Vodka which had a designer cursive line - ‘Country of Sweden’ in the logo itself has switched to just a navy blue Absolut enjoying the solitude. Visa has removed the card element last decade and even fired the fiery yellow edge to allow blue to engulf all of its typography on this one. Dominos have hit puberty late but by making the name come out of the inclined box they now demand complete attention. IHop, Dunkin... the list honestly keeps going on but the verdict is clear. Clarity of your name in the logo, something that can be read in a nanosecond during a digital post or banner is what works today. And when pure simplicity takes absolute precedent, intricate elements, three tone color schemes and parallel mascots take a backseat. Bold is the new black and clarity is the new color. Millennials demand this world to stop seeing colors, at least without any preconceived prejudices. And if anything the creative industry should be elated with this transformation, one less box to fit into. Let the old labels make way for legacy. If only the world would start having bold brands who can make shirts for men and call it pink. Oh wait, we already do - Pink Shirtmaker, London owned by the Louis Vuitton group. By Abhik Choudhury, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting. He is also a visiting faculty of Market Research and Campaign Planning at <keyword id="9497386" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-indian-institute-of-mass-communication">the Indian Institute of Mass Communication</keyword>, New Delhi. You can reach him at abhik@saltandpaper.co.

The relevance of brand colors are redundant, it’s all about differentiation

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/54358785.cms" />This is purely a case of ‘once bitten, twice shy’. Learning from last year’s fiasco, India’s top engineering schools now prefer PSUs during campus placements than startups. 
 
As many startups deferred joining dates and some even cancelled the joining leaving students high and dry last year, engineering colleges this year are taking no chance. 
 The Indian Institutes of Technology (<keyword id="49737" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IITs">IITs</keyword>) are preferring Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) early placement slots this year, even Day 1. 
 
As per reports, the IITs are also trying to get in touch with ministry of human resource development to ask Maharatna and Navratna companies, such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, NMDC and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, to participate in campus placement this year. 
 "Until last year, we could not bring in PSUs and also many students were opting for startups. Our experience with the startups was not all good last year. This year, we want to bring in PSUs in the first week itself so that students get a chance to opt for stable jobs rather than pick up lucrative offers in startups," Debasis Deb, chairman of the career development centre at <keyword id="6364832" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IIT-Kharagpur">IIT Kharagpur</keyword>, told ET. 
 Last year, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>’s fiasco and mismanagement by other companies like Peppertap, Zomato, Roadrunnr and Stayzilla resulted in massive disappointment. 
 The <keyword id="3656301" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="all-iits-placement-committee">All-IITs Placement Committee</keyword> recently blacklisted 30 companies, including startups, which went back on job offers. 
 
ET reported the IITs at Kharagpur, Roorkee, Bombay and Guwahati plan to offer PSUs Day 1. 
 
Kaustubha Mohanty of IIT Guwahati told ET, “We are leaving no stone unturned this year in inviting the PSUs. We are requesting them to come in the first week of December." 
 
Talking about salaries, even though PSUs will not offer stock options to candidates, the annual salaries offered will be of nearly Rs 10 lakh, about one-third of what is generally offered by Day 1 companies. 
 
In boom years, Day 1 firms have even offered upwards of Rs 40-50 lakh for top candidates. 
 
Anishya Madan, industrial liaison officer at IIT Delhi's training and placement cell, told ET, “It is not about the salaries alone, it is also about stability. We want students to get enough choice, especially in terms of working with core companies. With the ban lifted on PSUs coming to IITs, we are trying our best to give them a healthy mix from Day 1 itself.” 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

IITs are ditching startups, preferring PSUs during campus placements this year

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52934973.cms" /> 
Gone are the days when bigger necessarily meant better for startups across the country. While a billion dollar valuation meant the world to upcoming entrepreneurs as early as a year back, with the global financial tides turning, the focus has shifted from big GMV figures to driving efficiency in business models. 
 
This comes at a time when well-funded hyper-local startups like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=PepperTap&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">PepperTap</a> have shut down and larger ones like Grofers and Zomato have been forced to scale down operations. The so called ‘unicorns’ are struggling to raise funds, and recklessness with investors' money is punished with tighter purse-strings. 
 
Meet <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sandeep+Aggarwal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Sandeep Aggarwal</a>, co-founder of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ShopClues&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">ShopClues</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Droom&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Droom</a>. He was a wall-street analyst who bootstrapped his venture with his own funds and angel money that he raised from his friends and family till he first received institutional funding to the tune of $4 million in January 2012. 
 
Interestingly, Aggarwal’s latest startup <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Droom&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Droom</a> has a mere three employees in customer support. The company’s GMV to human resource ratio stands at $1 million annualized GMV per person. Aggarwal claims it’s the highest amongst startups in the country. His company is currently doing close to $170 million in annualized GMV. 
 
Business Insider sat down with Aggarwal to understand where machines can replace man, and where they can’t. 
 
Journey to automating <keyword id="2947589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Droom">Droom</keyword> 
While I’m proud of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ShopClues&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">ShopClues</a>, we still had to hire hundreds in customer support, and I didn’t want to repeat that mistake. 
 
It took me over a month to conceptualize Droom as a wireframe. I still remember, there were 127 slides. I thought through the workflow cycle, where one may need to call customer support, and what can and can’t be automated. 
 
Today we have only one supervisor and three employees in customer support. 
 
Potential of <keyword id="294572" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="80" keywordseo="machine-learning">machine learning</keyword> 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Machine+learning&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Machine learning</a> will allow us to have similar, if not better results in customers support. I think we can touch Rs. 250 crores in GMV per customer support employee. We can improve on that with keywords-based FAQs. One can also use IVR. 
 
 ‘Labor is cheaper than tech’ 
That’s the kind of thinking that has limited us to the services industry. It’s time we create quality product and platform companies. Human resource is cheap because it accounts for limited financial exposure, human errors and lack of reporting. 
 
Technology replacing employment 
Technology may deem some redundant. It’s their job to adapt and re-train themselves. That’s called survival for the fittest. That way people would actually end up earning more than they are currently. 
 If we wouldn’t have had built <keyword id="6357066" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ShopClues">ShopClues</keyword>’ returns platform, over 500 people would have been doing returns alone. While from a socialist perspective you could say that employs 500 people, it drives severe inefficiencies in the supply chain. 
 
Is it a sector-specific problem? 
It’s all about the founder’s vision and mindset. There are three types of founders – the marketing guy, the ops guy and the product guy. You can throw money at a problem, and get it solved. Automation for the first time may have its own set of problems than deploying manual labor. 
 Consider this, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> is only 20-30% bigger than ShopClues in terms of GMV, but has a 7-8x bigger workforce. 
 
Challenges in automation in hyper-growth markets 
There is a price for everything. 
 
For hyper-growth sectors, you have to train yourself to ignore certain things. However, you shouldn’t be left trying to dig the well after the fire. 
 
The eternal debate that a machine doesn’t know right from wrong 
The best brain on earth is the human mind. There’s no substitute to that. 
 
However, in an assembly line scenario, there’s always the option to have a separate bin that can come under human inspection. Everything doesn’t boil down to a yes/no. Our technologies can also capture the scenario where there is no option but manual labor to step in. 
 
To scale quick, you have to automate certain processes. Repetitive things can actually burn human resources. Artificial Intelligence can anticipate how much information is worthy enough to process a decision. 
 
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