Uber Announces 2nd Edition Of Driver Advisory Council

* 92% of surveyed driver partners laud Council’s impact: Uber

India’s first Driver Advisory Council (DAC), formed to provide gig workers a safe space to discuss issues that impact them deeply and improve their platform experience, has completed a year. The Council is a flagship initiative led by Aapti Institute, a Bengaluru-based think tank, that serves as a third-party Independent Review Board (IRB), in collaboration with Uber, with an aim to create better two-way dialogue between driver partners and the platform. 

Today, Uber along with the Aapti Institute announced the second cohort of driver partners across cars, auto-rickshaws and motorbikes, who will be part of the Council for a year. These drivers are from 6 metros including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, and represent the interests of tens of thousands of driver partners using the Uber platform. Last year, the Council comprised 58 driver partners who were part of 3 in-person sessions and two online sessions, convened by Aapti between March 2022 and March 2023. Critical topics discussed during these meetings included earnings, product enhancements, social security, app experience, and safety, among others. 

Based on these sessions, and recommendations from Aapti Institute, Uber implemented several changes last year. As per an internal survey of 80,000 driver partners by Uber, 85% of the respondents believed that the changes had a positive impact on their driving experience and 92% drivers wanted DAC to continue.  

Aapti Institute unveiled an impact report on the learnings from the Council meetings in its inaugural year. The report highlights key changes introduced by Uber as per the IRB’s recommendations: 

Reduction in driver cancellations: The Council meetings helped better understand the issues faced by driver partners that led them to cancel rides. Subsequently, Uber made the drop-off destination and mode of payment known upfront to driver partners prior to their acceptance of the trip requests. These changes helped driver partners make an informed decision and reduced trip cancellations significantly.

Transparency in driver earnings: The Council meetings helped get an insight into reasons behind some driver partners demanding extra money or refusing online payments. Fuel prices had gone up and driver partners' earnings were impacted. Online payments were transferred to the driver partners’ accounts after almost a week. To address these issues, Uber increased fares by 12-15% in major cities to offset the fuel price increases. Uber also introduced a Daily Pay process which meant that driver partners received payments made online the following day from Monday to Thursday and on Monday for payments made from Friday to Sunday. 

Easier app-experience for driver partners: Driver partners also highlighted bugs or missing features on the Uber app such as the lack of a convenient login interface. Uber now provides a phone button on the homepage added to the driver-partner’s Uber app to call for support and displays the customer’s chosen payment method for a trip.

Commenting on the occasion, Shiva Shailendran, Director - Operations, Uber India, and South Asia, said, “The Driver Advisory Council was our sincere attempt to give gig workers a much deserved seat at the table. Over the last one year, we have deepened our engagement with driver partners and now have a better understanding of issues they face. We will continue strengthening the Council further and stay committed to providing an open, accessible, and rewarding platform for driver partners to make sustainable earnings. This is an ongoing process and the changes that happen may be big or small, but will impact driver partners positively.”

Sharing her views on the one-year milestone, Dr. Sarayu Natarajan, Founder, Aapti Institute, said, “The Driver Advisory Council (DAC) represents a unique, first-of-its kind effort in India’s platform gig economy that promotes participatory governance.  Gig workers’  participation in an independent third-party mediated forum introduces a robust and resilient  alternative framework for governance of platform work. Such an approach can unlock agency for the driver community by giving a seat at the table, for companies by involving gig workers,  and for the society at large. Participative dialogue can help generate insight on issues faced by drivers, to enable potential positive changes to regulations, as well as Uber’s policies and products.”

Driver partners that form a part of the Council are active driver partners on the Uber platform who nominate themselves after meeting certain eligibility parameters. Finally, through meetings with the IRB, the driver partners are tested on their potential to contribute to solutions to prevailing challenges. These driver partners represent their community for a year, after which the selection process is repeated. A new cohort of driver partners will be part of the Council starting this month. 

Sharing his views on his experience with the Driver Advisory Council, Sarathi Datta, a driver partner from Kolkata with over 11000 trips spread over 4 years, shared his views: “Our sessions with the Council have led to significant changes over the last few months. It must continue as the forum has tremendous potential to bring about a positive impact for gig workers on the platform, and help them feel like they are being engaged with. In coming years, the Council can be made even better with regular feedback on the impact of changes and meetings every two-weeks.”

The Driver Advisory Council is a global best practice for Uber with similar models in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Uber continues to stay committed to supporting the rights of gig workers using the Uber platform. 

About Uber 

Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 10 billion trips later, we're building products to get people closer to where they want to be. Uber is available across 125 cities in India where people can book a ride on our app across two, three and four wheel products designed for their intracity and intercity travel.

Photo Caption: L-R: Shiva Shailendran, Director - Operations, Uber India, and South Asia; Shri Rahul Bhagat, Director, Social Security Division, Ministry of Labour and Employment, GOI ; Dr. Sarayu Natarajan, Founder, Aapti Institute.

Revolutionary Launch Of Furlicks™ In India: Breaking Boundaries In Pet Nutrition

Furlicks™ launches in India with the first-ever nano-dissolving nutrition oral strips for cats and dogs.

For an innovative and effective way to give your furry friends the nutrition they need, look no further than Furlicks™! This revolutionary brand is all set to shake the pet nutrition market up with its all-natural, quick nutrient-delivery oral strips that dissolve upon contact with your pet's tongue. Each easy to consume strip contains a powerful dose of essential nutrients that are directly released into the bloodstream for quick action.

And with flavors like mixed berry, maple syrup, and more for 6 unique variants, it is a delicious upgrade from traditional pet nutrition options like capsules or syrups. Best of all, just one strip a day is all it takes to keep your pet healthy and happy.

Furlicks™ was founded keeping pet parents in mind by renowned nutritionist Mr. Avnish Chhabria. The supplements are made with no compromise on quality, flavor, or ingredients and are designed to support your pet's daily nutrition needs. Whether your pet needs help with hip and joint health, bad breath, excessive shedding of fur, gut issues or nutritional deficiencies, Furlicks™ has got you covered.

With Furlicks™, there's no guessing game about how much your pet needs. Each strip delivers precise and accurate doses of nutrition, ideal for both cats and dogs. And because they're tasty and easy to consume, they eliminate the hassle of forcing pets to take their daily supplements. Your furry friends will love the taste, and you'll love the peace of mind that comes with knowing they're getting the nutrients they need without the painful shots or uncomfortable and often inconvenient administration of capsules and tablets.

"We developed Furlicks™ because we believe that pets deserve the same all-natural, healthier options that we seek for ourselves. Our unique line of oral strips is not only tasty and easy to consume, but they also eliminate the hassle of forcing pets to take the supplements while ensuring maximum absorption with minimum dosage, via Buccal absorption  ," said Avnish Chhabria, Founder of Furlicks™.

Bringing on a new era of pet nutrition, Furlicks™ is set to become a game-changer in the pet nutrition industry, offering pet parents a reliable and high-quality supplement brand that delivers precise nutrition in a convenient and tasty way. So why settle for less when you can give your furry friend the gift of health and happiness with Furlicks™ today.

About Furlicks™:

Furlicks™, an innovative and revolutionary Pet Nutrition brand in India, was created with the aim of providing the best daily nutrition support to fur mates. All the products are all-natural, fast & effective, and very easy to use for fresh breath, promoting calming, improving gut health, maintaining healthy skin and coat, providing multivitamins, and supporting hip and joint health. To know more, visit: https://furlicks.com/.

Shiprocket Forms Strategic Alliance With BillDesk To Power Payments For Its One-Click Checkout Solution

Shiprocket, India’s leading e-commerce enablement platform, has entered into a strategic partnership with the leading digital payments platform BillDesk to power payments on their one-click checkout solution. The consolidated offering combines the technological and logistical capabilities of Shiprocket, and the industry-leading payments experience of BillDesk to provide a seamless one-click checkout experience for D2C merchants in India. 

Through this strategic partnership, Shiprocket will provide its merchants with a world-class payment experience by leveraging BillDesk's extensive experience in processing payments across all payment methods. The partnership also allows BillDesk to access Shiprocket’s expansive D2C network and unlock opportunities in the massive $20 billion market, which is growing at a healthy rate of over 25%annually.

Speaking on the partnership Saahil Goel, Co-founder & CEO, Shiprocket said, “We are excited to partner with BillDesk to enable a better one-click-checkout experience for our merchants. With the rise in D2C commerce in India, quick checkout solutions are going to provide a great advantage to merchants in enabling a seamless consumer experience. This partnership will enable us to further our mission of empowering businesses and help us provide an all-encompassing and compelling offering to them.”

Ajay Kaushal, Co-founder, BillDesk said “The integration of BillDesk digital payments solutions with Shiprocket’s one-click-checkout technology will drive tremendous value for merchants in India as they scale their digital businesses. This partnership will enable businesses to use a robust, secure platform with multiple payment methods like UPI, cards, net-banking, etc. and deliver a smooth payment experience on their D2C channels.”

For the merchants, the partnership offers a comprehensive solution with multiple complementing functionalities integrated into a single offering. The solution enables merchants to provide all payment methods to their buyers through Shiprocket’s one-click checkout solution, including UPI, Credit Card/Debit Card, Net banking, Wallets, and consumer credit. The authentication protocols for verification of customers will help merchants in eliminating fake orders, and additional features like address pre-fill and delivery date guarantee will improve the customer experience altogether. It also provides merchants with access to dashboard tools, through which they will have complete control over refunds, settlements, payment method analytics etc. Merchants can leverage BillDesk's secure solutions, which are relied upon by leading businesses in India as their scale on their digital payments acceptance.

About Shiprocket

Shiprocket is India’s largest eCommerce enablement platform on a mission to empower the businesses of Bharat to scale their ventures by unleashing the true power of eCommerce. The platform helps the sellers at every step of their eCommerce journey, creating an operating system for direct commerce. Their stack of tech integrations enables shipping, fulfillment, customer communication and marketing tools as well as providers for SMEs, D2C retailers, and social commerce retailers in India. 

Launched in 2017, Shiprocket is on a mission to create a seamless logistics data platform that connects retailers, carriers, and consumers across national and international locations. Shiprocket provides a technology stack to help retailers integrate their shopping websites on Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, Zoho, and others with the platform’s multi-carrier API to manage orders, prints, and shipping labels. It also avails tracking information from multiple providers including managing Cash on Delivery (COD) orders and payment reconciliation. Shiprocket also offers state-of-the-art fulfillment solutions with more than 45 warehouses located across India. The technology stack provides a robust post-purchase experience to consumers resulting in higher engagement and lower RTO (failed deliveries). With 25+ courier partners on board, the brand permits pan-India as well as international shipping deliveries. Its shipping solutions are available across 24,000+ pin codes within India and 220 countries and territories worldwide.

About BillDesk

BillDesk is the preferred digital payment solutions partner for businesses in India. For over a decade, BillDesk has been driving electronic payments and digital commerce. BillDesk technology and solutions continue to make consumer electronic payments easy and reliable and help businesses, small and large, to accelerate their growth and digital transformation. BillDesk enabled over INR 10 trillion of electronic payments in 2022.

Disney Star Breaks Television Viewership Records For Tata IPL 2023

* 30.7 crore viewers tuned in to Live Broadcast of the first 10 matches (8 days) – 2nd highest ever in IPL history*

* 6230 Crore minutes of Watch-time clocked for first 10 matches – 2nd highest ever in IPL history*

* Peak Concurrency (viewers watching at the same time) on TV at 5.6 Crore for the Opening match.

Disney Star, the official television broadcaster of TATA IPL 2023, has clocked an astounding 6230 crore minutes of watch time for the opening 10 matches. With a cumulative reach of 30.7 crore viewers for the first 10 matches, the broadcaster has garnered 23% more viewers compared to the previous IPL edition. This reach happens to be the second-highest ever in IPL history*. Disney Star has demonstrated its commitment to delivering an uninterrupted and seamless viewing experience with its fan-first approach, creating a compelling, engaging, and interactive product. The TVR among affluent male urban sports audiences has grown by almost 25% in comparison to the last edition.

Sanjog Gupta, Head - Sports, Disney Star, said, “We are elated with the overwhelming response to Disney Star's broadcast of Tata IPL 2023. Following on from a great opening, viewing figures continue to break records registering the 2nd highest reach and watch-time for the first 10 matches in IPL history (excluding the Covid period). This is a testament to the relentless effort and investment by Disney Star in growing Cricket fandom through its compelling marketing campaigns, world-class coverage, and enhanced storytelling. We are grateful for the continued love and support Star Sports receives from fans as their preferred destination. The peak concurrency on TV for the opening match of 5.6 Cr - the highest ever in IPL history (excluding Covid times) - demonstrates the power of IPL combined with Star Sports in aggregating viewers at the same time."

Star Sports has provided viewers and fans with an unmatched viewing experience, free of latency issues and an uninterrupted feed, along with superior audio-visual quality. The broadcaster has introduced the latest technological advancements, including Dolby Atmos audio, interactive features with Airtel Digital TV and Tata Play, an ambience feed, live subtitling, and enhanced technology like Holobox, Traxis, and Hawkeye 4K Cam, to transform households into mini-stadiums providing every second of the high-octane action live to the television screens. As part of its #MySocietyStadium initiative, legends of the game, who are part of the broadcaster’s commentary panel, have been joining fans for match screenings to transform society into a stadium.

Star Sports has been at the forefront of fuelling fandom for sports. Initiatives like creating region-specific feeds in nine languages, a decorated ‘Star Cast’ comprising of world-class former cricketers, on-ground experiences like the ‘Fan Bus’, the launch of the largest school Cricket quiz, ‘The Incredible League Quiz’, among others have generated tremendous response and ensured that the focus remains on television during the tournament. ‘Ask Star’ returns in a new avatar where fans can pose to commentators, questions that they always wanted to know about, giving another opportunity for fans to join the live broadcast.

The ‘Shor On, Game On!’ campaign by Star Sports generated significant excitement and support before the tournament. The campaign captures fans' passion, excitement, and togetherness, driving their favourite cricketers to achieve incredible moments on the field.

Star Sports is thrilled with the promising viewership numbers on the opening day and opening week of the tournament and remains committed to providing fans with a host of engaging content that brings them closer to the marquee tournament. For the opening match, the broadcaster witnessed an enormous 31% growth in TV ratings along with a growth of 20% in reach compared to last season. Additionally, Tata IPL on Star Sports delivered 14 crore viewers on opening day with a peak concurrency of 5.6 crores and an engagement of 76 minutes. Star Sports is optimistic that its efforts will continue to keep fans glued to their TV screens and create an unforgettable viewing experience that celebrates the spirit of the TATA IPL 2023.

All BARC data for 2+ U+R- Disney Star Network + OOH for Live Broadcast

*: Other than IPL Editions in Covid Years

Cosmo Films Set To Exhibit Its Product Range At Four Major Trade Shows

* The company will exhibit at Labelexpo Mexico, Visual Impact, Interpack, and FESPA highlighting its latest product offerings and industry-leading innovations.

Cosmo Films, a global leader in speciality films has announced its participation in four prominent trade shows in the label and packaging industry. The company will exhibit at LabelExpo Mexico from 26-28 April 2023, Visual Impact from 3-5 May 2023, Interpack from 4-10 May 2023 and FESPA from 23-26 May 2023 highlighting its latest product offerings and industry-leading innovations. 

Sharing his thoughts on the same, Mr. Pankaj Poddar, Group CEO, Cosmo First Limited said, “Being innovation-led, we have developed superior-quality and innovative films that fulfill the evolving needs of our clients. Participating in LabelExpo Mexico, Visual Impact, Interpack, and FESPA is of immense importance to us, as it enables us to engage with customers and industry experts in these regions. Our involvement in these events reinforces our commitment to providing cutting-edge and environment-friendly solutions to our customers.”

Cosmo Films will showcase its extensive range of speciality packaging, label, lamination, synthetic paper, promotional films and industrial films along with Cosmo Plastech (Rigid Containers) and Cosmo Sunshield (Window Films) for various applications in these exhibitions. During the exhibition, Cosmo Films' team of professionals will be present to discuss personalized packaging alternatives and address inquiries from visitors and delegates. The company aims to leverage these exhibitions to foster new collaborations and partnerships, exchange industry knowledge, and gain a deeper understanding of customers' requirements to deliver the most effective and innovative packaging solutions. With a strong focus on innovation, quality, and sustainability, Cosmo Films has emerged as a preferred partner for several leading brands across the globe.

About Cosmo Films:

Cosmo Films is a global leader in specialty films for packaging, lamination, labeling and synthetic paper. With engineering of innovative products and sustainability solutions, Cosmo Films over the years has been partnering with worlds’ leading F&B and personal care brands and packaging & printing converters to enhance the end consumer experience.  With manufacturing units in India & Korea and warehousing in different parts of the world, the company has been at the forefront of developing customer-centric solutions to deliver the finest product and service experience, backed by innovation, people, and processes.

About Cosmo First Limited:

Founded in 1981, Cosmo First today has a presence across 100+ countries around the globe. Cosmo First is a global leader in specialty films and an emerging player in specialty chemicals (Masterbatches, Adhesive, Coating & Textile chemicals) along with the digital-first Omni channel Pet care business under the brand name ‘Zigly’.

Happiest Minds & NielsenIQ Brandbank Partner To Solve Product Data & Shopper Experience Challenges

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital . Born Agile’, Mindful IT Company, and a global strategic partner for Pimcore, today announced its partnership with NIQ Brandbank, the global leading provider in digital product content.

Happiest Minds is the largest Pimcore services provider in the world. Working together over the past two years, Happiest Minds has been an exceptional consulting and services provider, driving innovation and technology to build NIQ Brandbank’s Shopper Experience Platform. The partnership will help NIQ Brandbank leverage Happiest Minds’ deep expertise in building agile and adaptive digital solutions. It will enable retailers and manufacturers worldwide to accelerate digital transformation and improve their shopper experience, further strengthening NIQ Brandbank’s ability to provide world-class digital content solutions to new and existing customers. It will also offer a centralized and consolidated product data management platform, with the opportunity to adjust based on the client's individual digital strategy, taking the transformation to the next level.

Rajiv Shah, Executive Board Member & CEO, Digital Business Services (DBS), Happiest Minds Technologies said, “We are thrilled to further strengthen our partnership with NIQ Brandbank, a true market leader in digital product content. We are committed to delivering innovative solutions that help our clients drive business growth and success.”

Mike Nickituk, Global Managing Director, NIQ Brandbank said, “As a market leader in product data and shopper experience, we are proud to partner with Happiest Minds and continue our commitment to our clients across the world, driving shopper engagement. We look forward to building on this partnership, delivering innovative solutions to support the industry.” 

Pimcore is an award-winning technology company providing data and customer experience management solutions powered by open-source technology. Pimcore has shown continuous development in PIM, MDM, DXP, and Digital Commerce and has been recognized as Gartner Peer Insights Customers Choice in MDM Solutions (2021 and 2022) and Gartner Cool Vendor (2018). Operating within the FMCG industry, many of NIQ Brandbank and Pimcore clients align, including Carrefour, Carlsberg, Schweppes, Spar, and Lavazza. Happiest Minds has significantly contributed to what Pimcore has delivered to its clients globally, i.e., 3.6B+ Products and Customers Master Records, 10B+ Data Intelligence Relations, 150M+ Web pages, Digital and Print Documents, and 700M+ Media Assets. Being Pimcore’s largest global partner, the company has a team of 4600+ professionals.

Designed for perpetuity and powered by its mission statement of ‘Happiest People . Happiest Customers’,  Happiest Minds counts for more than fifty-five Billion-Dollar corporations as its customers.

About Happiest Minds Technologies:

Happiest Minds’ Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a Mindful IT Company, enables digital transformation for enterprises and technology providers by delivering seamless customer experiences, business efficiency and actionable insights. We do this by leveraging a spectrum of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, digital process automation, internet of things, robotics/drones, security, virtual/augmented reality, and more. Positioned as ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, our capabilities span digital solutions, infrastructure, product engineering and security. We deliver these services across industry sectors such as automotive, BFSI, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, edutech, engineering R&D, hi-tech, manufacturing, retail, and travel/transportation/hospitality. 

A Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is headquartered in Bangalore, India, with operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and the Middle East.

About NIQ Brandbank:

NIQ Brandbank is the leading provider of digital product content solutions powering omnichannel shopping experiences. We enable brands and retailers to deliver the best shopping experience by giving them the ability to capture and share rich digital product content on all channels seamlessly. NIQ Brandbank’s end-to-end solutions connect shoppers to the most up to date and relevant digital product content making consumer goods more discoverable and engaging. 

The world's biggest brands including Walmart, Tesco, Carrefour, P&G and Unilever use NIQ Brandbank every day to digitalise the shopper experience. With 25 years of experience and operating in 39 countries, NIQ Brandbank is the content partner to over 52,000+ brands, 700+ retailers, and wholesalers across the globe, creating a rich online shopping experience, while minimising the cost and complexity for the industry. 

To learn more, visit:https://nielseniq.com/global/en/landing-page/brandbank/ 

Aditya Birla Health Insurance Targets 10 Million Jumps In Its #JumpForHealth Campaign 2023

·         ABHICL to donate one prosthetic leg for every 10,000 jumps

·         The 6th edition of #JumpForHealth goes live from April 7 with the theme “Jump for help”

Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Ltd. (ABHICL), the health insurance joint venture of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. (ABCL), holding company for the financial services business of Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest diversified conglomerates in India, has announced the launch of its annual campaign #JumpForHealth.

The sixth edition of #JumpForHealth kick starts on World Health Day, April 7, 2023, with a target of receiving 10 million jumps this year and donate around 1000 prosthetic legs to differently-abled individuals.

This year the campaign is based on the theme of finding your reason to jump and in the process help someone who is in need. The campaign encourages the participants to work towards a better lifestyle while contributing towards the society by helping differently abled people walk again.

Through this campaign, ABHICL donates one prosthetic leg for every 10,000 jumps recorded by the participants. Since its inception in 2017, #JumpForHealth campaign recorded more than 32 million jumps and donated more than 3262 prosthetic legs to individuals thereby making a positive difference to the respective families as well.

In 2022, #JumpForHealth was awarded a Guinness World Record title for the 'Largest online video album of people jumping in the air’ with 5455 videos.  

Speaking about this initiative, Mr. Mayank Bathwal, CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, said, “At Aditya Birla Health Insurance, we have always encouraged people to lead a healthy life and inculcate the habit of healthy living through our HealthFirst philosophy. #JumpForHealth campaign is an extension of this philosophy, created to inspire individuals to be active and jump for a greater cause – health for self and in the process help those who are in need.”

“Over the years, this campaign has lived up to its purpose of creating an awareness on healthy living and its benefits. The millions of jump we have received over the last five editions is a testimony to this. Over the years, we have seen great enthusiasm and participation from our partners, agents, customers, employees and participants who look forward to this campaign every year. We are committed to our mission of promoting health and wellness and are happy to see the positive impact that this campaign has created in the society.”

Watch Launch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_UbK4Xlon0&ab_channel=AdityaBirlaHealthInsurance