Jochelle.Mendonca@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:Amazon India has set upa call centre with a difference.While most ecommerce compa-nies have call centres to connectwith customers, the Indian arm ofthe United States-based etailer hascome up with one to deal exclusive-ly with merchants, as increasingthe number of sellers in a market-place becomes the next battlefrontin online retail business.

For Amazon, too, this is the firstcall centre of its kind anywhere inthe world. The company has had toadopt the marketplace model tofind its way around India’s regula-tions governing foreign direct in-vestment in multi-brand retail. Ina marketplace model, the ecom-merce firm provides just the tech-

nology platform while sellers onthe site own the inventory.

“In a marketplace, you need tohave a large variety of merchantsin order to attract customers to thesite. Amazon has created an out-sourced call centre with about 100agents to deal with merchant is-sues,” a person familiar with thematter told ET.

Amazon India has outsourced thecall centre to Aegis, business proc-ess outsourcing company ownedby the Essar Group, and the num-ber of agents could be increased asmore merchants get on the plat-form, said the person, requestingnot to be named. Aegis declined tocomment while an email querysent to Amazon India remainedunanswered till Tuesday evening.

“The idea is to create an interfacethat merchants may be more com-fortable using. So far, the interac-

tions with merchants have beenthrough online portals and emails.This call centre will give them aperson to talk to, to discuss issuesrelated to refunds to customers, re-bates and logistic is-sues,” a second per-son privy to the de-velopment said.Experts saidAmazon mayhave started atrend that itsrivals couldfollow as thenumber ofmerchants increase.

Sellers, Amazon has a No. for YouAmazon India sets up call centre to serve merchants in India

Health78%Offi ce based physicians &

59%Hospitals in the US will not be able to access patients’ elec-tronic health records

A Day Without DataData is so pervasive in our daily life today that we are heavily dependent on it to power global systems. But have we ever stopped to imagine what could happen if data came to a standstill for a day.? Here is a look at the possible outcome of this scenario

500 millionTweets would not be shared

Communication

1.75 billionSmartphone users in the world will not be able to use their phones

182 billionE mail messages will not be received and sent

4.9 millionSkype users will not be able to spend 2 billion minutes on IMs and video calls

1.5 millionIndian farmers use mobile phones for data on market prices, crop volumes and weather forecasts

Indian Scenario

For Hundreds of millions of

Indians a smart-phone is the only piece of

technology

E- commerce

Social Media

70 millionPhotos would not be shared on Instagram

Shipping

FACEBOOK

864 millionFacebook users will not be able to spend an average of 39 minutes

4.75 billionFB posts will not be shared

10 billionFB messages will not be sent

244 millionMembers on Amazon

$2 billionAmount retailers will lose by way of sales 149 million

Members on eBay

Entertainment

903.3 millionPay TV subscribers will lose access

55.8 millionMusic hours that Pandora users will stand to lose

SOURCE: NETAPP GRAPHIC: GEETANJALI

Transportation

16,320,000Cars will not be able to use GPS naviga-tion systems

87,000Flights will not be able to use air traffi c control

58 millionUPS tracking information requests will not be submitted

50 millionFedEx tracking informa-tion requests will not be submitted

4 millionLocations of iPhone shipments ordered will not be known

TALKINGTECH

8lakhThe number of Internet.org users in India, according to Facebook. The service is so far available only in 7 telecom circles

Google is all set to announce Android M later this week at Google I/O. This time there have been very few rumours. Accord-ing to Android Police, this release of Android will be more focused on perform-ance than addition of new features. Google will im-prove both battery and RAM performance with this software update.

TechBUZZ

For comprehensive and insightful stories about all things startups and technology, log on to www.ettech.com

Android M may be All About Battery Life

Social net-working giant Twitter is in talks to buy

article-sharing app Flip-board. Twitter could pay more than $1 billion in stocks to make the acquisition, VentureBeat reported. California-based Flipboard was launched in 2010 and the company has raised more than $160 million with backing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures, Insight Venture Partners and Rizvi Traverse Management. — IANS

Twitter may Buy Flipboard for $1 billion

Samsung to Launch ‘Iron Man’ Phones

You can’t get your hands on the ultra-thin, futuristic Sam-

sung phone Tony Stark uses in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” — because it doesn’t exist. But you will be able to buy a special Iron Man handset. As part of a tie-in with Marvel’s summer blockbuster, End-gadget reports that the firm is releasing a special edition Iron Man-themed version of its Galaxy S6 Edge. There’s no indication of pricing yet, but availa-bility will be limited. It isn’t on sale outside of Asia. It is set to launch in SKorea on May 27, with China and HK in June. — Business Insider

ANIRBAN BORA

Quick Byte

Bharani.Vaitheesvaran@timesgroup.com

Chennai: Not instantly spotable,but palm-sized sensors are silent-ly streaming data on ATM vitalsfrom room temperature to natu-ral light sources to the movementof the security guard, leveragingInternet of Things (IoT) to helpservice providers run cash-vend-ing machines on lighter oper-ational expenditure models.

Companies such as Chennai-based Financial Software & Sys-tems and Gurgaon’s CMS Solu-tions have applied IoT and soft-ware-automated processes tohelp banks cut costs across theboard by saving power, curbingpilferage, managing incidentssuch as stuck debit cards, andeven remotely controlling theATM to shut it whenever the secu-rity alarm goes off.

IoT, which makes devices com-municable and operable throughwireless transmissions, is wit-nessing increasing application ina host of sectors such as retail,manufacturing, healthcare andbanking. In ATM management, itis fast emerging as the first-levelmonitor. “Remote ATM-monitor-ing through sensors has avoidedthe task of sending technicians tofix glitches at ATMs. This has cutcosts enormously,” said NagarajMylandla, founder and managingdirector of FSS, which managesover 30,000 ATMs across the coun-try for many private and publicsector banks with State Bank ofIndia, the country’s biggest lend-er, being the anchor customer.

FSS has deployed software to de-tect and inform about commonincidents that may happen at an

ATM: card reader malfunctions,stuck receipts, low cash reservesand high degree of power wast-age. The automation is executedby a package developed in-housecalled Active Device Monitoring,which is a sensor networkbunched with software thatalerts a central location aboutglitches. “This takes care of first-level monitoring in an ATM. Thisprocess required an engineer tovisit and inspect,” he added.

An ATM guzzles .̀ 35,000 a monthon an average on operational andmaintenance expenditure, withthe average cost per transaction,excluding the security guard’s in-come, at .̀ 10-25.

The company offers 8-10% re-duction on operational costs withits IoT and software initiativesdeployed over the last year.

FSS is installing cash recyclersat the ATMs of its clients to fun-nel deposited cash into the ATMmachines for withdrawal, cut-ting the need for cash refills.

Technicians MakeWay, IoT Sensors willTake Care of ATMs

Costly Option`35k/monthAvg operational and maintenance expenditure

`10-25 Avg cost per transaction (excluding security)

WHAT IOT OFFERS

∙ Save power

∙ Curb pilferage

∙ Manage incidentslike stuck debit cards

∙ Remote controlling ATM in case of security breach

Madhav Chanchani & Aditi Shrivastava

Bengaluru: Tiger Global Manage-ment, the largest investor in Indianstartups, has turned its attention toanother high-potential segment inonline commerce — accommoda-tion aggregators — as it aggressive-ly expands in the country having al-ready struck more than a dozenfresh deals this year.

The New York-based fund is in dis-cussions with Nestaway and ZoRooms to invest .̀ 65-95 crore ($10-15million) in each firm, according tomultiple people aware of the devel-opments. India has emerged a hotinvestment destination for TigerGlobal, which this year has alreadydeployed more than $600 million(about .̀ 3,800 crore) in the country,betting big on the internet segment.Its rapid pace of deal-making is al-tering the dynamics of early-stageinvestments, pushing the firstround of institutional fundraising,or series-A rounds, to above $10 mil-lion from the typical $4-5 million,making it tough for rival investorsto stitch deals.

In addition to new and follow-oninvestments this year in late-stageportfolio companies includingFlipkart, Tiger Global has closed

several early-stage deals since Ja-nuary in emerging segments suchas on-demand local services (Grof-ers, Localoye); financial technolo-gy (Moneyview); education tech-nology (Vedantu, CultureAlley);digital media (Culture Machine,News In Shorts); and mobile gam-ing (Moonfrog Labs).

“Tiger Global comes in, invests$10 million and calls it a seed deal,”said the managing partner of a Ben-galuru-based venture capital firm,

declining to be identified. “Wheredoes that leave an investor likeme?”

Nestaway, an online marketplacefor shared accommodation, is intalks with investors including Ti-ger Global to raise about .̀ 95 crore($15 million) for its series-A round,said two venture capital investors.Zo Rooms, an online budget hotelstay brand launched five monthsago, is in talks with a consortiumled by Tiger Global to raise .̀ 65-95

crore, the people mentioned abovesaid. Tiger Global declined to com-ment while Nestaway and Zo Roomsdid not reply to emails sent by ET.None of the people aware of the de-velopments agreed to be identifiedas the discussions may or may notmaterialise.

With its deep pockets and its abili-ty to back companies as diverse asFlipkart, Commonfloor, Limeroadand FreshDesk across fundraisingstages, Tiger Global has been ableto establish itself as the go-to inves-tor for startups in the country,steered by Lee Fixel, the co-head ofits PE and VC investing arm.

“Tiger, till date, was only advisingportfolio companies in India on astrategic level, but now the fund isincreasing its presence in India andis likely to be more active at an oper-ational level,” said Sumit Jain,chief executive of online real estateclassifieds CommonFloor.

Tiger Global’s $600 million invest-ments in India this year account fornearly two-fifths of the $1.6 billionraised by domestic technology andecommerce companies. The firmled investments in Shopclues andDelhivery and participated in Ola’slatest fund-raising round — three ofthe five largest technology financ-ing deals struck this year, accord-ing to research firm VCCEdge.

Tiger Now Burns Bright forNew Field: AccommodationTiger Global is in discussions with Nestaway and Zo Rooms to invest .̀ 65-95 cr in each firm

Grofers, LocaloyeOn-demand local services

MoneyviewFinancial technology

Vedantu, CultureAlleyEducation technology

Culture Machine, News In ShortsDigital media

Moonfrog LabsMobile gaming

$600 millionAmount Tiger Global has already deployed in India

Firm has bet big on the internet segment

Investments account for nearly two-fifths of the $1.6 billion raised by domestic tech & ecomm companies

EARLY-STAGE DEALSFIRM HAS CLOSEDSINCE JANUARY

Tiger’s Share

Evelyn Fok & Aditi Shrivastava

Bengaluru: You may be amongthe millions of urban Indian con-sumers who have decided not tostep out this summer as much aspossible and are happy shoppingonline even as blistering heatwaves sweep across the country.

Ever wondered about the chal-lenges thousands of delivery boystraversing the streets on their two-wheelers and their employers —ecommerce companies, on-de-mand startups and third-party lo-gistics providers — face on theground to ensure that deliveries

are made on time and profitably?There are plenty of obstacles.The most glaring one, say indus-

try insiders, is identifying theend customer’s location in thefirst place.

GPS navigation may be goodenough to guide one to a new loca-tion, but one can’t find each and ev-ery address in these mapping ap-plications, particularly when itcomes to smaller towns and non-metro cities.

Despite delivery companies andenterprise solution providers de-veloping systems-based routingtechnologies in-house, “the map-ping technology is not 100%. Youstill have to follow up with the de-livery boys from time to time onthe road,” said Rishi Khiani, CEO and managing director atMumbai-based incubator AntFarm, which is piloting a cross-vertical delivery service in Mum-bai this month.

Kapil Bharati, cofounder andCTO at Delhi-based logistics pro-vider Delhivery, added that find-ing the delivery address is moreproblematic in tier-II and tier-IIItowns, where the geographicalcorrelates of addresses are, moreoften than not, unavailable.

Delivery Boys Lost in MazeOn-ground challenges faced by delivery staff are yet to be resolved

The HurdlesIdentifying the end customer’s location

Finding the delivery address is more problematic in tier-II and tier-III towns

Navi-gating using a mobile app

Understanding and operating card pay-ment mechanisms

Responding to safe-ty and health relat-ed issues

Commu-nicating with cus-tomers

Fake bank notes

CAN’T SPOT IT

GPS may be goodenough to guide one to anew location, but onecan’t find every addressin these mapping apps

Our Bureau

Bengaluru: Cab aggregator Taxi-ForSure has revamped its mobileapp and tied up with mobile pay-ment services provider Paytm inan attempt to offer seamless book-ing and payment solution to itscustomers.

The Bengaluru-based companyhas been aggressively spending onexpansion and technology development since the previousquarter to make up for lost time after a cash crunch forced it to sell itself to bigger rival Ola inMarch for $200 million (about.̀ 1,280 crore).

“Eighty per cent of our bookingscome from the mobile app andmore than 35% of our customersuse cashless wallet,” said ArvindSinghal, who became the CEO ofTaxiForSure post the merger.

Customers of TaxiForSure willnow be able to book a cab in onetouch and in less than five secondsthrough a technology that even itsparent Ola does not offer, saidSinghal, a BTech from IIT Bombaywho joined the company fromMcDonald’s, where he was the di-rector south-marketing.

TaxiForSure, which earlier hadan in-house wallet, will now usethat to store credits and company-led promotion money while Paytmwill be the company’s outsourcedrechargeable wallet.

Uber too uses Paytm as its onlypayment method since it got intotrouble with the Reserve Bank ofIndia last year for violating thetwo-step authentication mandate.However, while Paytm is Uber’sonly payment method, TaxiFor-Sure will accept cash.

TaxiForSureTies Up with Paytm

WHAT’S IN STORE

TFS, which earlier had anin-house wallet, will nowuse that to store creditsand company-led pro-motion money

Globe Trotter A roundup of tech

stories from all over

BENGALURU Singapore-based on-

line streaming service Hooq, will

launch a beta version of its service

in India on Wednesday ahead of a

formal roll-out next month. The

startup — a JV between Singapore’s

telecom giant Singtel, Sony Pic-

tures Television and Warner Bros —

will offer over 10,000 Hollywood

blockbusters, television soaps and

popular local programmes for a

monthly subscription of .̀ 199.

These can be viewed on five de-

vices including mobile phones and

tablets, via an app and mobile web,

PCs or Android set-top boxes. Hooq

currently operates in the Philip-

pines and Thailand .

Get Ready to Get Hooq(ed)

CHINA Taiwan’s Foxconn Tech-

nology is aiming to develop 10-12

facilities in India, including facto-

ries and data centres, by 2020,

Chairman Terry Gou said. The com-

pany could spend a “few billion

dollars” on developing the facil-

ities, said Gou, whose company's

listed flagship unit is Hon Hai Pre-

cision Industry. “A lot of our cus-

tomers, especially Chinese custom-

ers, need us to manufacture ... in

India, to make phones, tablets, TVs,

as soon as possible,” Gou said in an

interview in China's southern Guiz-

hou province. — Reuters

Foxconn has Plans for India

SHANGHAI Despite being blocked

in China, Twitter is courting Chinese

companies to buy advertising

space on its service used by more

than 300 million people elsewhere

in the world. This week, the popular

microblog platform has made pre-

sentations to prospective Chinese

clients in Shanghai on the sidelines

of the inaugural Consumer Elec-

tronics Show Asia. “It’s not a coinci-

dence that we are here now," Peter

Greenberger, director of sales for

emerging markets at Twitter, said

on Tuesday. — Reuters

Twitter has China in Sight

6 �THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY | 27 MAY 2015Startups & Tech

IN A HEART BEAT:Smart headset that can perceive heartbeat is on display at the first Consumer Electronics Show in Asia in Shanghai. —AFP

Heartfelt | Music to My HeartSean Gardner2 @morrowknight

Important #entrepreneur lesson learned. You never get anything without asking & the worst that can happen is someone says no

~Ben Rooney #in

Here is a look at the median CEO pay by industry last

year, as calculated by executive compensation data firm Equilar and AP

CEOs athealth care cos earned the most for the sixth time in the last seven years

The biggestgain in pay was in the basic materials industry

Pay dropped the most for financial cos

CEOs atutility cos earned the least

Health CareSector CEOs

Highest Paid

HEALTHCARE

BASIC MATERIALS

SERVICES

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

CONSUMER GOODS

FINANCIAL

TECHNOLOGY

UTILITIES

$13.6 million

$12.6 million

$10.8 million

$10.8 million

$10.7 million

$10 million

$9.3 million

$8.9 million

4%

15%

9%

Unchanged

Unchanged

3%

10%

9%