Punjab National Bank Launches Festive Offer, Waives Loan Processing Charges

With the festive season around the corner, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched “Festival Bonanza Offer” to enhance the availability and affordability of credit to customers.  Under the festive offer, the Bank will waive all service charges/processing fees and documentation charges on its retail products like Home Loans, Vehicle Loans, myProperty Loans, Personal Loans, Pension Loans and Gold Loans. 

PNB now offers an attractive interest rate starting from 6.80% on home loans and 7.15% on car loans. The Bank is also offering personal loans to the public from 8.95%, which is one of the lowest in the industry. Bank has also announced offering home loan top-up at an attractive rate of interest.  

Customers can avail of the exciting offer – available till December 31, 2021 - through any of the PNB's branches around the country or via digital channels. 

Despite the impact of the pandemic, PNB is committed to its customers by offering them customized products, incentives and ease of banking services. The Bank is confident that this festive season will see an encouraging revival in overall consumer spending, thereby boosting its credit portfolio. 

2x Olympic Medallist PV Sindhu Interacts With Fans In A Insta Live AMA Session Powered By Bank Of Baroda

* Mandira Bedi interviewed PV Sindhu on her passion, inspiration and goals

Bank of Baroda celebrated National Sports Day by organising an AMA session #SmashItWithSindhu2 with 2-time Olympic Medallist PV Sindhu and renowned sports commentator Mandira Bedi. The session has been viewed by more than 65,000 fans of the shuttler. Fans asked questions on various aspects of Sindhu’s journey. Bank of Baroda has been associated with the athlete for almost 5 years now, a relationship which started even before she won at Rio Olympic.  

On winning her second Olympic medal, Sindhu said, “Winning back-to-back medals at the Olympics is definitely a dream come true.” During the conversation, Sindhu highlighted that India is getting much better in sports year after year and the future looks very promising. 

In a rapid-fire conversation with Mandira Bedi, Sindhu revealed her personality traits being very jovial and sensitive unlike being aggressive on the court. When asked about the movie on PV Sindhu, the shuttler expressed Deepika Padukone as the best fit to play her character as the actor is a badminton player as well. 

When a fan asked Sindhu, what does she like to do when she is not training, she replied that she loves dressing up and like a true millennial uses bob World extensively for its convenience and attractive offers. As a stressbuster, Sindhu loves travelling and with bob World services she is able to plan her vacation by herself. 

Sindhu doesn’t spend much time on social media – she even lost a bet to Mandira on guessing the number of her followers. In the sportsman spirit the Olympian agreed to transact the bet amount via Bank of Baroda’s recently launched app – bob World, which she described as super-fast and the right partner for all her banking needs like Save, Invest, Borrow and Shop.

Sindhu stressed upon the importance of encouraging young kids to explore sports. She added that parents must support and inspire their kids to take their passion for sports seriously.

Watch the entire conversation with the first Indian woman athlete to win 2 Olympic medals packed with many more interesting questions on Bank of Baroda’s official Instagram handle: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CTKNeE_phfg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

About Bank of Baroda:  

Bank of Baroda (“The Bank”) established on 20th July 1908 is a State-owned banking and financial services organisation, headquartered in Vadodara (earlier known as Baroda) in Gujarat, India. 

Bank of Baroda is India’s leading public sector bank with a strong domestic presence supported by self- service channels. The Bank’s distribution network includes 8,200+ branches, 11,600+ ATMs, Cash Recyclers supported by self-service channels and over 23,000 Business Correspondents. The Bank has a significant international presence with a network of 96 branches/offices of subsidiaries, spanning 19 countries. The Bank has wholly owned subsidiaries including BOB Financial Solutions Limited (erstwhile BOB Cards Ltd.), BOB Capital Markets and Baroda Asset Management India Ltd. Bank of Baroda also has joint ventures for life insurance viz. IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited and India Infradebt Ltd., engaged in infrastructure financing. The Bank owns 98.57% in The Nainital Bank. The Bank has also sponsored three Regional Rural Banks namely Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank, Baroda Rajasthan Gramin Bank and Baroda Gujarat Gramin Bank. 

Action Lab 2050 Begins Its Journey To Break Free Of Menstrual Hygiene Stereotypes In India

The 4th National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-2016 estimates that, of the 336 million menstruating women in India, only 36% (121 million) women and girls use sanitary napkins, locally or commercially produced. Moreover, there is a significant divide in the use of products between rural and urban areas. 71% of girls in India report having no knowledge of menstruation before their first period. Action Lab 2050 (AL50), a social enterprise born out of a vision to make a difference to women aims to create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential. With its technical knowhow & operational capabilities, AL50 strives to scout, funnel & build a set of capable stakeholders in the eco-system for the broader motive of creating a conducive environment for every woman to realize her true worth. AL50 was launched today through a virtual conference in the presence of Chief Guest Ms. Aprajita Sarangi, Member of Parliament, Bhubaneswar and several other eminent speakers that included Mr. Basanta Kumar, Country Director, Project Concern International, Ms. Sneha Mishra, Secretary, Aaina, Ms Neelima Pandey, Director- Program Design, District Transformation Program (DTP), Ms. Lalita Bhattacharjee, FAO, Dr. M.G.Ragunathan, Principal, Guru Nanak College & Members of the Executive Committee of The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), Govt of India. Mr. Aaquib Hussain, Co-Founder, Ms. Ruby Ray, CEO & Director and Mr. Srustijeet Mishra, Co-Founder & Director, were present to represent Action Lab 2050. 

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Ruby Ray, CEO & Director, Action Lab 2050 added, “India with its myriad cultures needs an immediate single platform solution and discourse on menstrual and maternal health. Period shaming must end to empower our women and girls especially living under poverty. In our country only 36% of women use sanitary pads and 70 per cent of all reproductive diseases are caused by poor menstrual hygiene. About 12.1 out of 33.6 crore menstruating women use sanitary napkin in the country as per National Family Health Survey. Rest of the women and girls are often more adversely and disproportionately affected due to poor sanitation facilities, worried about their social dignity and safety, as it strongly borders around cultural taboos that significantly impact women and girls’ lives and reinforces gender exclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated menstrual hygiene particularly among the poorest communities affected by multiple deprivations. These issues encouraged us to form Action Lab 2050 where we address the lack of education on the issue, persisting taboos and stigma, overcome limited access to reusable bio-degradable hygienic menstrual products through first-of-its-kind eCommerce platform and work in tandem with UNDP Sustainable Development Goals also advocate for proper sanitation in schools with Ministry of Health, Government of India. At Action Lab 2050, we sincerely believe that this will cater to an ever-emerging need of creating awareness among the society at large about menstrual hygiene and bring about a positive change.”  

Ms Neelima Pandey, Director- Program Design, District Transformation Program (DTP), further added, “I would like to congratulate the Action Lab 2050 team for bringing such critical contributions to the space of menstrual poverty. It was heartening to listen to the speakers advocating it to be recognized as a separate right for women. We at Piramal Foundation are a learner in this space and for us the only way to be of impact and service to our girls is to collaborate with experts and scale the impact.” 

AL50 is in the process of tying up with various universities for research on social, cultural & policy-making aspects of maternal & menstrual health. Overall, AL50 aims at scouting, funneling & building a set of capable stakeholders in the eco-system for the broader motive of creating a conducive environment for every woman to live up to her full potential. To begin with, AL50 hopes to create a library of best practices, technological, social and innovations that would create disruptions in the system. AL50 aims to be the ideal platform for recognizing & rewarding stalwarts in respective fields in the eco-system and more importantly curate and create a sustainable eco system in the society where not only menstrual hygiene systems in all its aspects from the product usage, availability, disposal and knowledge, become a part of the fundamental rights but the taboos and superstitions associated with menstruation becomes a thing of the distant past.  

Even in the 21st century, the menstrual health and hygiene of women all over the world, is a subject of concern due to cultural taboos, gender inequality, poverty, prejudiced social norms, and lack of basic services. The pandemic has furthered worsened the situation with prolonged lockdowns and reduced income. Poor menstrual health and hygiene not only impacts the reproductive health of women but also causes stress, anxiety and reduced participation in education, work and community life. Menstruation is intrinsically related to human dignity – when people cannot access safe bathing facilities and safe and effective means of managing their menstrual hygiene, they are not able to manage their menstruation with dignity. Action Lab 2050 intends to align itself with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN to focus on improving equity to meet the needs of women, children, and disadvantaged populations so that “no one is left behind”. 

About Action Lab 2050:  

Action Lab 2050 (AL50), a social enterprise born out of a vision to make a difference to women aims to create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential. With its technical knowhow & operational capabilities, AL50 strives to scout, funnel & build a set of capable stakeholders in the eco-system for the broader motive of creating a conducive environment for every woman to realise her true worth. AL50 aims to be the ideal platform for recognizing & rewarding stalwarts in respective fields in the eco-system and more importantly curate and create a sustainable eco system in the society where not only menstrual hygiene systems in all its aspects from the product usage, availability, disposal and knowledge, become a part of the fundamental rights but the taboos and superstitions associated with menstruation becomes a thing of the distant past. 

PayNearby Launches NeoDukaan; Aims To Modernize 100 Million Retailers By 2025

•  One-stop-shop platform empowering retailers to modernize trade and accelerate digital adoption

•  Aims to offer host of tech-enabled trade offerings to drive mass acceptance

•  To offer an all-inclusive digital payment hub that ensures easy acceptance across different form factors, simplified for both retailers and customers

•  A store management tool to offer one-click process to take stores online, digital ledger for better credit management and unified platform offering wholesale procurement options

•  Eyes to digitize millions of largely underserved MSMEs as well as bring a new set of retailers into the PayNearby fold

In its bid to mass modernize the retail sector across the country, PayNearby, India’s leading branchless banking and digital payments network, has associated with Retailers Association's Skill Council of India (RASCI) to launch “PayNearby NeoDukaan” to digitally upgrade its retail partners and gear them towards a better livelihood. PayNearby NeoDukaan is a first-of-its-kind holistic store management tool aimed at digitizing the retail stores and accelerating digital adoption at the last mile. With multiple digital payment options, digital ledger for credit management and online wholesale procurement options, PayNearby NeoDukaan looks to create a thriving ecosystem for its retail partners by empowering them digitally and bringing them at par with the current times.

In India, retail is evolving, retailers are not. Retail is India’s largest industry, accounting for over 10% of the country’s GDP and 8% of employment, however, despite its large size, the sector has remained predominantly unorganized due to the presence of local stores and vendors. To win in this changing landscape, the local retailers need to change too. To be indispensable to the consumer, local retailers must constantly update to accommodate their various needs. And, PayNearby is completely transforming the retail outlets and making them future-ready. The company has enabled more than 38+ lakh retailers across 17, 600+ PIN codes to have a strong online presence and ensures that small and local shops are not left behind in the transforming digital world.

Echoing this sentiment is PayNearby’s latest business vertical – the NeoDukaan app. This store management package is an end-to-end comprehensive suite that exclusively focuses on helping retailers modernize their stores, simplify their lives and bring them at par with the times. With this app, PayNearby intends to make retailers future-proof and take them to the level where they can compete with the e-commerce giants and large format superstores. PayNearby NeoDukaan enables stores to go online with a single click and service customers in their neighborhood and beyond to avail the digital store at their convenience. With this platform, PayNearby aims to digitally empower the local retailers in India whilst enhancing their efficiency and opportunities to serve their customers better.

Today, it is crucial for all stores to have digital formats of digital payments. This all-new platform will enable retailers to offer wide-ranging payment options such as UPI QR, Aadhaar Pay, mPOS and SoftPOS to the customers in the local community. Besides being cost-effective and easily implementable, retailers will not lose customers due to limited payment options and will be able to offer digital financial services seamlessly. PayNearby NeoDukaan will help retailers provide a slew of choices to their customers and will help accelerate digital adoption in the country, especially among the underbanked spectrum, reducing the demand for cash and cash-led transactions. Besides, in the wake of COVID, it will enable customers to make safe, contactless payments too. NeoDukaan, thus, aims to democratize digital payments, ensuring the availability of form factor agnostic transactions at the last mile such that digital payments become as seamless as exchanging cash.

In the majority of Tier II, Tier III cities and beyond, most of the daily businesses run on credit. Retailers end up breaking their backs to maintain a physical ledger and spending long hours on reconciliation. While retailers are used to traditional bookkeeping by maintaining bahi-khatas, NeoDukaan will help them manage customer credits more efficiently with ‘Customer Khata’ - a digital ledger. Besides offering enhanced security, Customer Khata will help retailers to go digital, streamline their accounts and reconcile better. With Customer Khata, retailers can record all transactions digitally, set automatic payment reminders for customers - so that they can collect the dues on time, and view customized reports too.

Moreover, many small businesses do not have a good supply management. They often end up shelling out exorbitant prices for supplies that are way beyond the wholesale rates, incurring losses. To help with this, PayNearby NeoDukaan will also function as an aggregator platform, whereby retailers can easily access various wholesale procurement alternatives such as Big Basket, ITC, Unnati etc. all in one spot. Currently, no other player offers multiple wholesale procurement options on a unified platform. Besides operational efficiency, the app will enable retailers to digitally procure goods timely and at competitive prices.

Commenting on this occasion, Mr. Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby, remarked, “We are thrilled to present the PayNearby NeoDukaan app to help our retail partners grow non-stop in life. Retailing in India is one of the pillars of our socio-economic structure, with retailers having deep-rooted relationships in the local communities. For India to thrive and grow, it is important that the retailers are given the necessary support and tools to stay relevant in the fast-evolving economy. PayNearby NeoDukaan is one such effort committed to enabling financial inclusiveness and the economic wellbeing of the retailers.

As the word ‘neo’ denotes transformation, PayNearby NeoDukaan will be a game-changer for the mass retail community offering them opportunities to acquire new customers, engage better with existing customers and reduce the cost of operations. This will further accelerate the growth of the digital economy even across hinterlands and remote towns whilst making ‘Digital India’ a closer reality. PayNearby NeoDukaan will transform every shop in the country into a shop ready for a new era.

As an organization, PayNearby acknowledges the deep symbiotic relationship it has with the retailer community, and with PayNearby NeoDukaan, we want to assure the progress of our retailers. Our association with RASCI will ensure that our retail partners have all they need to get ahead in life. This is our ‘Zidd Aage Badhne Ki’. A ‘Zidd’ to make every shop in Bharat modern, digitally-empowered and future-ready.”

On the occasion, James A. Raphael Executive Head - Retailers Association's Skill Council of India (RASCI) and Joint Central Apprenticeship Adviser - Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (GOI) said, “PayNearby is paving the way to bridge the gulf of Bharat and India.  NeoDukaan is a committed stride towards the digital empowerment of local retail at the last mile. It will position Indian retailers at the forefront of a new consumption economy whilst offering a huge stimulus to the ‘Digital India’ movement. This digital transition will usher in a new era of commerce, transform 'job seekers' into 'job creators' and will create millions of livelihood opportunities in the hinterlands and small towns thereby driving economic growth and social upliftment in the real Bharat.”

Additionally, the company has set an ambitious target of on-boarding 100 million retailers by 2025. PayNearby NeoDukaan is designed to bring a completely new set of retailers into the PayNearby fold.

About PayNearby:

Incepted in April 2016, PayNearby is a fintech company creating technology and distribution network to reach financial/non-financial services to India and Bharat both. PayNearby empowers retail shop owners to offer digital services to local communities, thereby boosting digital financial inclusion. Retailer services are focused on Agent Banking, Digital payments, microSavings, microInsurance, Loan enablement among others.

It was founded by Anand Kumar Bajaj, Subhash Kumar, Yashwant Lodha & Rajesh Jha who bring with them rich experience in the field of banking, payments and other financial sectors. PayNearby is a DIPP-certified FinTech startup, partnering with various financial institutions including YES Bank, RBL Bank, IndusInd Bank, SBM Bank India, Equitas SFB, Ujjivan SFB, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, CC Avenue, Bill Desk, NPCI, FASTag, NBFC and FMCG companies. It is the sole technology provider using Aadhaar Enabled Payment Services (AEPS) and IMPS to YES Bank, making them one of the only two fintech companies hosted by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). For details, please visit https://www.paynearby.in

BharatPe Partners With Axis Bank For Its POS Business Across India

* Strategic alliance aimed at ensuring better experience for BharatPe’s POS merchants

BharatPe, India’s leading fintech company for merchants, today announced a strategic alliance with Axis Bank, the third largest private sector bank in India. As a part of the association, Axis Bank will be the acquiring bank for BharatPe’s POS business (BharatSwipe) and will empower acceptance of credit and debit card payments for BharatPe’s merchants using BharatSwipe.

This association will help BharatPe enhance the merchant experience by leveraging best-in-class technology platform offered by Axis Bank. The merchants can enjoy faster payment processing, a more secured and simplified platform, along with a host of other features.

Axis Bank today is the third largest POS acquiring bank in the payments acceptance business in India. With an Installed Base of over 6,52,026 POS terminals spread across India in metro, urban, rural and even deep geo cities such as Barmer, Ratlam, Korba etc, serving both big and small merchants, the Bank currently processes around   Rs.19,000 Cr of volumes per month. With superior technological capabilities for faster and secure payment processing, Axis Bank is in a position to serve all partners and customers to leverage the same for accepting payments through multiple payment modes.  

BharatPe launched its POS machine, BharatSwipe, last year as India’s first zero rental and zero MDR POS machine. It received an overwhelming response from small merchants and kirana store owners. The BharatSwipe business has scaled up rapidly, and now contributes 20% to the overall payments Transaction Processed Value (TPV) of the company. BharatPe has an installed base of over 1 lac POS machines across 16 cities in the country and facilitates transactions of over Rs. 1400 crores every month. BharatPe clocked annualized transaction value of US$2bn on the POS terminals at the end of FY21 and has set a target of US$6 bn in annualized TPV by the end of FY22.

Commenting on the partnership, Sanjeev Moghe, EVP & Head- Cards & Payments, Axis Bank said, “We have been continuously working on partnership led models & digital solutions to expand our offerings to the merchant community. In this endeavour, we are delighted to partner with BharatPe, one of the fastest growing fintech brands in the country. This partnership aids our commitment to drive digital adoption across the ecosystem and achieve the goal of financial inclusion by bringing technological access for digital payments to all segments of the society. Further, we look forward to partnering with other fintechs and e-commerce players to help them ensure merchant stickiness on their QR code installations by providing co-branded POS plus QR and several other value added services”

Speaking on the association, Suhail Sameer, Chief Executive Officer, BharatPe said, “We have witnessed phenomenal growth in our POS business since its launch. We have set aggressive plans for the vertical and aim to enable 5 crore transactions and scale the POS business by 3x in the next 12 months. We are targeting tripling our POS deployment to 3 lac machines by the end of current fiscal. We are also looking at expanding our reach by 5x to 80 cities in the country.  We are also working towards rolling out customer credit offerings as well as add loyalty and rewards features to our POS devices in the coming months. In order to achieve these, we will be exploring partnerships with banking and financial institutions that can empower our offering. We believe that Axis Bank is amongst the ‘digitally- ahead’ banks in the country and we are confident that this partnership will be not only help us deliver a seamless offering to our merchants, but also be instrumental in our journey to achieve the next level of growth. We look forward to a more holistic association with them in the times to come.”

BharatSwipe also allows merchants to accept QR payments, via dynamic QR generated on the Swipe machine. Also, its feature of generating physical receipts for QR payments is one of the most sought after feature. The company has also recently launched ‘holiday settlements’ feature for its merchant partners. This feature allows merchants to accept settlements even on a bank holiday, thereby ensuring liquidity at all times.

BharatPe is India’s largest fintech company that offers a range of financial technology products for SMEs, small merchants and kirana store owners. It has been committed to drive financial inclusion in the country with India’s first UPI QR payment acceptance product with zero transaction fees, a range of loans for the underserved and the unexplored merchants as well as SMEs, and zero rental card acceptance machines. It will continue to scale its lending and payments business as well as expand its presence to newer markets in FY22. The company aspires to become a Digital Bank for all SMEs in the country.  It has set a target of reaching US$30 billion TPV annually on payments (both QR and Swipe) and building a loan book of $700 million with small merchants by March 2023.

Aviva Launches Aviva Saral Pension Plan Across The Indian Market

* Single premium immediate annuity plan that guarantees a regular income for the rest of your life 

Aviva Life Insurance, India’s most trusted private insurance company, has announced the launch of Aviva Saral Pension Plan, A Non-Linked Non-Participating Single Premium Individual Immediate Annuity Plan. It is a product with simple features and standard terms and conditions that enable customers to decide on planning their retirement. The plan allows the customers to adopt the policy basis their needs to ensure their secure retirement and provide financial protection to their loved ones in their absence.

Aviva Saral Pension Plan offers numerous benefits like guaranteed regular income for the rest of your life by paying just once, flexibility to receive annuity Monthly, Quarterly, Half-Yearly and Yearly, and loans against the policy. In case of demise of the annuitant, the entire purchase price Premium Amount is paid to the nominee(s). Additionally, the policy can be surrendered any time after six months from the commencement date if the annuitant, spouse, or any of the children of the annuitant is diagnosed with any critical illnesses specified in the Policy Document.

Mr Vinit Kapahi, Head, Marketing Function, Aviva Life Insurance said, “In line with IRDAI's vision to offer standard immediate annuity product with simple features, we have launched Aviva Saral Pension Plan. We understand the need for regular income in the later years of life and the importance of securing the financial future of loved ones even in one’s absence, making Aviva Saral Pension a helpful instrument for retirement planning.”

He further added, “Keeping in mind that the life expectancy is increasing because of improved healthcare facilities, nuclear families becoming a norm, retirement planning has become a necessity. So many people imagine themselves sitting comfortably, free of responsibilities, enjoying life in their golden years, and we want to help our customers live this dream with this launch of this product.”

Some of the key features of the Aviva Saral Pension Plan are:

Guaranteed income for a whole life: Pay only once and enjoy guaranteed regular income for the rest of your life starting as soon as the next month.

Option to secure your loved ones’ future: With the Joint Life option, you have the opportunity to secure your spouse's future income too.

Loan Availability: For those unexpected needs that life throws, you have the option to avail loan against the policy after six months from the time of purchase of the policy.

Enjoy Tax Benefits: Tax benefits may be available as per prevailing tax laws.

To know more about the product and its features visit: https://www.avivaindia.com/aviva-saral-pension-plan.

Over 95% Office Commuters Are Willing To Take A Carpool To Office Post Pandemic, sRide Survey Reveals

* Study conducted among 10,000 users in metro cities by leading carpooling app sRide 

The world economy is slowly returning to normalcy as the dark cloud looming over subsides and vaccination drives pacing in full throttle. There is a significant change in the sentiments of the workforce and return to office has become one of the key focus points for both individuals as well as businesses. sRide, India’s largest carpooling app through a survey found that 95% of the respondents in India expressed comfort carpooling their way to work once the country reopens for working from offices. Majority of them preferred commuting in ‘car bubbles’ with their own set of people. The survey also revealed 53% of respondents expect heading to work out of offices starting September. Over 10,000 respondents from the corporate community of India shared their views from 6 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune. 

Some of the key highlights of the study are that about 25% of respondents were willing to travel to offices three times a week while 30% were open to travel five times a week. The study which also collected responses from top IT companies across India revealed that organisations are looking at reopening their office spaces by October 2021 provided employees are completely vaccinated and depending on orders from the government.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Lakshna Jha, Founder & CEO, sRide, said, “We have noticed that carpoolers with sRide in the past have become friends and acquaintances. There is a greater sense of familiarity as they have traveled together in the past. Riders are also creating their own social bubbles with people they travel on the same route. One can also form social bubbles for frequent drives to the same place like the workplace, and enjoy the benefit of creating small communities to travel together and establish long-term relationships. Additionally, with the fuel price hike, use of personal vehicles has become expensive and makes Carpooling a preferred option.”

The concept of social bubbles has been the most followed trend in India in the last couple of months as the public has slowly started stepping out of their homes.  This concept became a trend as people have become more disciplined about maintaining their hygiene through social distancing. To ensure maximum hygiene and safety even while travelling, commuters have started to travel in their car bubbles. Since dependency on public transportation has reduced to avoid public exposure, commuters have increased their dependency on the next best affordable form of commute, carpooling. During the pandemic, sRide has helped users find “their set of people'' they feel safe in travelling and socialising. We have noticed the increase in the trend of commuters repeatedly choosing the same set of co-riders for their commute to work, shopping or be it vaccination drives. With strong emphasis on vaccination drives, easing up of lockdowns and reopening of businesses, the pandemic with its various impacts, has opened up the options for Carpooling in India. Given the circumstances, carpooling is the only win-win situation as it gives the combined benefit of cost-efficient ride by collectively saving on fuel expenses, a safe environment as you travel with your own set of familiar people and at the same time avoid extreme public exposure. sRide also encourages its users on various aspects of hygiene and sanitation in the new normal by consistently engaging with them through emailers, app notifications and several other communications. 

About sNeighbour from  sRide

sRide is a social platform that helps millions to commute by carpooling. With more than 2Million users across 10 All cities, sRide has helped more than 1 Million+ users monthly to share or pool their rides.  With sNeighbour, the 2 million users can come together to engage and help neighbourhoods.