E-RUPI Goes Live For Mswipe Merchants; Boost For Vaccination Drives At Hospitals And Healthcare Facilities

* Merchants can accept e-RUPI on mPOS and Mobile App

Boosting ease of digital payment acceptance by MSMEs across India, Mswipe has gone live with e-RUPI for all its 6.75lakh POS and 1.1 million QR merchants. Mswipe has powered hospitals and healthcare facilities to accept the digital vouchers from beneficiaries, thereby giving a boost to the vaccination drive against COVID-19.

Earlier in August, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had launched e-RUPI to provide for a digital payment solution between sponsors of services and beneficiaries.

By taking e-RUPI live on its platform, Mswipe, a leading end-to-end digital enabler for MSMEs, will power merchants to accept digital payments by simply scanning the QR or SMS string based voucher on the customers’ phone. 

Ankit Bhatnagar, Head of Product, Mswipe said, “e-RUPI built on the UPI platform is a step in the direction of expanding the digital payments infrastructure in the country and in empowering businesses to accept payments in the most suitable form from their customers. This democratizes digital payments and at the same time has a tremendous potential to limit misuse of subsidies that are meant for government welfare schemes and under corporate support programmes for their employees. Providing e-RUPI is a step towards our commitment in empowering our merchants to adopt all kinds of digital acceptance methods to improve customer experience and also boost their revenue.”

Merchants can now use the ‘UPI Voucher’ feature on the Mswipe Merchant App to accept prepaid e-RUPI based payments from customers. They can accept payments on their POS terminals as well as by registering on the Mswipe Merchant App. Customers using e-vouchers will not have any dependency on carrying a card or having a bank account or even internet banking services or any digital payment for that matter as they will be able to receive the vouchers via SMS on their Aadhaar registered mobile number.

The electronic voucher can be used for government welfare programmes such as vaccination, nutrition, fertilizer subsidies among others in addition to helping corporates roll out employee benefit initiatives including reimbursement for COVID inoculation, travel allowances, business expenses and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

e- RUPI will connect the sponsors of the services to the beneficiaries and service providers through a digital interface. It will also play an important role in strengthening Direct Benefit Transfer while  ensuring transparency.

About Mswipe

Mswipe aims to be India’s largest financial services platform for SMEs by providing seamless, omnichannel digital payments and other value-added financial services. It is the largest independent mobile POS merchant acquirer and network provider with 6.75 lakh POS and 1.1 million QR merchants across the country. Mswipe offers a host of payment acceptance services for SME’s enabling them to accept - cards, wallets, mobile payment apps and bank apps, contactless and QR payments. Headquartered in Mumbai, Mswipe began operations in 2011. Its key investors include B Capital, UC-RNT, Falcon Edge Capital, Matrix Capital Partners, DSG Partners and Epiq Capital.

Hero MotoCorp Sells 453,879 Units Of Motorcycles & Scooters In August 2021

Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, sold 453,879 units in August 2021.  

In line with its enhanced focus on global markets, Hero MotoCorp further augmented its premium motorcycle portfolio in Bangladesh with the launch of Hero Hunk 150R in the month of August. Developed especially for the Bangladesh market, the premium Hunk 150R delivers an unparalleled experience with its new-age experience and riding style.

Hero MotoCorp is gearing up for the upcoming festive season, and with several positive indicators, such as the decent monsoon resulting in encouraging farm activity in most parts of the country, and the several government schemes in the social sector, the Company remains optimistic about demand in the coming months.

Also, with Covid- 19 vaccination gaining pace and last-mile retail opening up further, the numbers are expected to be positive in the coming months.

In keeping with its ongoing community outreach programs, Hero MotoCorp has partnered with the district administration in Haridwar to launch a vaccination drive for the public. As part of the initiative, 10,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be administered in a phased manner to the people in the city.

Additionally, the Company has also provided two mobile vans - equipped with facilities such as wheelchair, stretcher and refreshment packets, etc. - that will help mobilize specially-abled people to visit the nearest health centers to get vaccinated.

Hero MotoCorp celebrated its 10th anniversary by recording a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ for creating the ‘Largest motorcycle logo’ with the world’s best-selling motorcycle Splendor+.

Renault Launches The All-New “Kwid MY21” As Part Of 10th Anniversary Celebrations In India

* Announces special offers and loyalty benefits to mark the occasion and the upcoming festive season 

As part of the ongoing 10th Anniversary celebrations, Renault India has launched the all-new “KWID MY21”. This Attractive, Innovative and Affordable vehicle has been a true game-changer and volume driver for Renault India.  

Staying true to its commitment to keep building on the indomitable success of KWID with breakthrough product innovations, the new MY21 Range further strengthens its value proposition and elevates customer’s trust in the product and brand. 

The Renault KWID MY21 Range is offered in 0.8L and 1.0L SCe powertrains in both manual and AMT options. Renault KWID range complies with all the safety regulations applicable in India, and will now be  equipped with dual front Airbags as a standard feature across all the variants.This development comes ahead of the regulation timelines. Accentuating the attractiveness of the car, the new Kwid MY21 Climber Edition will also be available in Dual Tone Exterior in White colour with black roof along with the new features like Electric ORVM and Day and Night IRVM. In addition to various active and passive safety features, it also features Front driver side pyrotech & pretensioner, further elevating the safety quotient of the vehicle.  

As part of the celebrations, Renault has announced special offers for the customers in the month of September 2021 offering maximum benefits of upto INR 80,000 on select variants across its product range. These offers can be availed while purchasing new Renault vehicle during this period. In addition to the above, the company has also rolled out 10 unique Loyalty Rewards to mark the 10 years celebrations, with maximum loyalty benefits upto INR 110,000 which is over and above the regular consumer offers. 

Renault India has also launched specific offers for its customers in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa from 1st to 10th September to celebrate the festive fervour during the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chathurthi. 

Apart from the announced offers in the form of cash offers and loyalty bonus, the company has also announced the Buy Now, Pay in 2022 scheme on the purchase of KWID, TRIBER and KIGER, wherein the buyers can opt for a new Renault vehicle now and start paying EMIs after 6 months. 

In an array of new offerings to the customers, Renault has recently launched the new RXT (O) variant of the newly launched Renault KIGER along with several attractive schemes & promotions for all the existing and potential customers. The KWID MY 21 edition is yet another jewel that will be enhancing the 10 year celebrations of Renault in India.  

Renault India has cultivated a strong foundation backed by its unique product strategy and pioneering customer satisfaction initiatives with more than 7,50,000 customers driving Renault cars in India. Together with a strong product strategy, Renault has been continuously undertaking strategic measures across all key business dimensions, ranging from product, network expansion and pioneering customer oriented activities to offer a seamless brand ownership experience to its customers.

Sify Technologies Announces Channel Partnership With Colt Technology Services For Europe

Sify Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: SIFY), India’s most comprehensive ICT solutions provider with global service capabilities spanning Data Centers, Networks, Cloud, Infrastructure Managed services and Applications management, today announced a channel partnership with Colt Technology Services, a leading provider of high bandwidth and on-demand connectivity, to cover the European geography.

The partnership introduces Sify’s collaborative practices for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the Infrastructure-as-a-Service that delivers on-premises computing power to run cloud-native and enterprise company’s IT workloads. This is made possible by Colt’s network connectivity capability with its On Demand service allowing specifically for connectivity to be flexed up for the OCI migration. Translated, that means, the customer gets the additional connectivity only when it is required.

Multiple businesses across Europe are beginning to leverage the full benefits of Oracle Enterprise Cloud offering. Most of these businesses are also struggling with expertise to plan and migrate Oracle workloads and licencing to a more commercially viable solution. This new partnership allows the adoption of OCI to be done efficiently over a fast, reliable, and secure network connection.

With Colt’s Dedicated Cloud Access and On-Demand offerings, customers can securely and reliably provision new connectivity services on a low latency, high-performance network in a matter of hours compared to weeks and months. The On-Demand offering scales the bandwidth as per the application or workload consumption patterns thereby resulting in substantial cost savings.

Justin Polley, Commercial Director, Sify Europe said, “This engagement combines Sify’s deep Oracle consulting experience with Colt’s European flexible networking services. The combination enables Oracle Cloud adoption at a much faster pace, to extremely high standards and at a much lower cost. Furthermore, the unification of resources brings unrivalled expertise in migrating many other types of databases to the Public cloud”.

Colt was the clear choice for this partnership because they have invested heavily in best-in-class Cloud connectivity to deliver dedicated, secure, and high-bandwidth connectivity in near real-time customer Cloud migrations.

Mark Hollman, VP Partner Development & Success, Colt said, “We know there’s a direct correlation between the success of enterprise cloud projects and reliable connectivity. Moving to the cloud is more mission-critical than ever, and Enterprises need a robust cloud connectivity strategy to evolve. That’s why we are delighted to partner with Sify. Together, we can unlock and amplify our joint value to power Enterprises’ migrations to Oracle Cloud”.

Sify is an accredited member of the Oracle Partner Network for the OCI Cloud Sell and Service specifically in the areas of solution assessment, implementation and migration, Cloud management, colocation and DR-as-a-service. 

About Sify Technologies

Sify Technologies is India’s most comprehensive ICT service & solution provider. With Cloud at the core of our solutions portfolio, Sify is focussed on the changing ICT requirements of the emerging Digital economy and the resultant demands from large, mid and small-sized businesses.  Sify’s infrastructure comprising state-of-the-art Data Centers, the largest MPLS network, partnership with global technology majors and deep expertise in business transformation solutions modelled on the cloud, make it the first choice of start-ups, SMEs and even large Enterprises on the verge of a revamp.

More than 10000 businesses across multiple verticals have taken advantage of our unassailable trinity of Data Centers, Networks and Security services and conduct their business seamlessly from more than 1600 cities in India. It has sales and operations globally in the UK, Singapore, United States and UAE. In Europe, Sify operates as an offshore Telecoms Network and Digital services enabler working through a channel partnership model.

Sify, www.sify.com, Sify Technologies and www.sifytechnologies.com are registered trademarks of Sify Technologies Limited.

About Colt Technology Services

Colt Technology Services provides world-class network and voice connectivity to businesses in Europe, Asia and the US. The Colt IQ Network connects 900+ data centres across Europe, Asia and North America's largest business hubs, with over 29,000 on net buildings and growing. Colt is an Oracle Partner Network member and a Global OCI Fast-Connect Partner, providing point-to-cloud and multi-cloud Ethernet connectivity solutions. Colt have been specialists in their field for over two decades and are recognised as an innovator and pioneer in Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV).

WardWizard Innovations & Mobility Achieves Highest Ever Monthly Sales In August 2021

* Dispatches more than 2,000 units, recorded with 435% growth YoY

Continuing with its strong sales performance, WardWizard Innovations and Mobility Ltd (BSE Code: 538970) – one of the leading manufacturers of electric two-wheelers brand ‘Joy e-bike’ registered highest ever monthly sales in August 2021.

Led by the demand for its popular product portfolio, the company sold 2001 units of electric scooters and motorcycles in the month, registering a growth of 435% over the corresponding month of the previous year (August 2020), when the company had sold 374 units.

The company has further observed a strong rebound of sales with a growth of 112% as compared to last month (July 2021) where the sales stood at 945 units

Noteworthy, the company has also received the highest ever booking order of more than 4500 units, backed by the demand for low-speed electric two-wheelers.

Commenting on the highest ever monthly sales, Mr Yatin Gupte, Chairman & Managing Director, WardWizard Innovations and Mobility Ltd, said, “Our primary focus for the current financial year is to strengthen our market presence in every part of the country as we are witnessing good growth in demand for our entire product portfolio. Further, the inquiries have increased significantly and, we have received high booking orders across our dealerships especially in markets like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. As electric two-wheelers are becoming the most preferred choice of the customers, we are expecting the highest ever growth in the coming festive season.”

SBI General Insurance Launches Its Sonic Brand Identity With The Launch Of Its Musical Identity

SBI General Insurance (SBIG) today launched its signature tune, thereby establishing its sonic brand identity. The newly launched musical id is a delightful symphony that encapsulates modern and forward-looking attitude. 

The company’s musical id is envisaged to create a deep and multisensory experience for its customers and thereby amplify its key messaging of trust and support. The music id will act as the brand’s signature tune, thereby integrating the tune in digital touch points. This sonic tune is a celebration of SBIG’s new brand identity which was launched last year.  

Speaking on the launch Mr. PC Kandpal, MD and CEO, SBI General Insurance shares, “With the revamp of our brand identity, we had introduced our brand promise as 'Suraksha aur Bharosa dono'. The launch of our sonic logo resonates “Suraksha” and “Bharosa”. Further, this musical logo will make our brand ubiquitous and thereby connect well with our customers.” 

SBI General having a strong foundation with multiple milestones, this new sonic identity will be another milestone in the trajectory.  

Link of the sonic tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KgDorVyCnU 

About SBI General Insurance Company Limited:  

SBI General is one of the fastest growing private general insurance companies, with the strong parentage of SBI, we, at SBI General Insurance, are committed to carry forward the legacy of trust and security; and have a vision is to become the most trusted general insurer for a transforming India. 

Ever since our establishment in 2009, from 17 branches in 2011, we have expanded our presence to over 137 branches pan-India. Till date, we have served around 8.7 crore customers.  

We follow a robust multi-distribution model encompassing Bancassurance, Agency, Broking and Retail Direct Channels. On the distribution network front, we have strong distribution partners adding up our reach to every nook and corner of India, with SBI’s over 22000 branch network, Agents, other financial, OEM and digital partners.  

We currently serve three key customer segments viz. - Retail Segment (catering to Individual & Families), Corporate Segment (catering mid to large size companies) and SME Segment; and are future-ready to serve the growing needs of Indians with new age-processes and services at affordable prices.  

SBI General Insurance closed the financial year 2020-21 with a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 8312 crore with a growth of 22% and net profit of the Company grew by 32%. The company has shown steady growth for the past 4 years, while maintaining positive track record of underwriting.  

KRAFTON Opens Pre-Registration Of PUBG: New State In India

* Pre-registration is live today in India on Google Play & App Store 

* Gearing up to expand the countrywide popularity of PUBG IP  

KRAFTON, the South Korean video game company announced that the pre-registration of PUBG: NEW STATE, a new title of PUBG STUDIOS to launch this year, goes live in India.  

In response to the heavy excitement and strong support of the Indian fans for the PlUBG IP, KRAFTON decided to expand the regions for PUBG: NEW STATE pre-registration following the launch of BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA.  

Developed by KRAFTON’s PUBG STUDIOS, pioneers of the battle royale genre and creators of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, PUBG: NEW STATE will launch as a free-to-play experience on Android and iOS in 2021. PUBG: NEW STATE recreates PUBG: BATTLEGROUND’s original Battle Royale experience, making it the most realistic battle royale game on mobile.  

PUBG: NEW STATE garnered great attention from the global mobile gaming community in the pre-registration stage, with over 32 million pre-registrations on Android and iOS globally excluding China, India, and Vietnam. While India was initially not included in the pre-registration countries, Indian fans expressed great excitement about the game’s launch and commented positively on the posts on PUBG: NEW STATE’s various social media channels.  

PUBG: NEW STATE Executive Producer Minkyu Park said, “Knowing that PUBG IP from KRAFTON is enjoying countrywide popularity in India and our Indian fans have high interest in the launch of PUBG: NEW STATE in India, we at PUBG STUDIOS are doing our best to offer a battle royale experience only we can deliver based on the stable service for our Indian fans." 

KRAFTON has been investing heavily in the development of Indian gaming, esports, and IT entertainment industries with the establishment of its Indian office. The company invested a total of 70 million USD this year in the Indian IT sector including the leading Indian esports company NODWIN Gaming, the game streaming platform Loco, and the Indian No.1 web novel platform Pratilipi. 

The link to pre-register is available here on Android and iOS.