End deep discounts, NRAI tells online food aggregators in India

Agencies
August 21, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 21: In a bid to stop "unethical" deep discounting practices of online food aggregators amid nationwide #logout campaign, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Tuesday told the platforms to realign their offerings to create a restaurant-friendly ecosystem, thus ending freebies and detox the consumers from discount addiction.

In a meeting with the five top players -- Zomato, EazyDiner, Dineout, Magicpin and Nearbuy – in New Delhi, the industry body discussed how technology has a key role to play in driving engagement and discovery for retailers versus deep discounting.

"It was decided that all aggregators will rejig their features to detox the consumers from the addiction of deep discounts that has crippled the industry," the association said in a statement.

The meeting came after thousands of restaurants delisted from online food aggregators' platforms across the country. The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) on Monday joined the chorus, calling for a review of the agreement of online food apps with restaurants and threatening nationwide protests.

Anshoo Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO, magicpin, said in a statement that they had a very productive discussion with the key members of NRAI.

"The NRAI members included President Rahul Singh (Beer Cafe), Priyank Sukhija (BoomBox, Lazeez Affaire, Flying Saucer and more), Vikrant Batra (Cafe Delhi Heights) and Nitin Saluja (Chaayos). We agreed on how technology has a key role to play in driving engagement and discovery for retailers versus deep discounting,' said Sharma.

Magicpin said it works at a base margin of 10 per cent and allows partners to top-up anywhere from Rs 2,000 to Rs 20 Lakh as per their marketing needs for the month while delivering guaranteed RoIs to them.

"We are fully supportive of NRAI's cause and are looking forward to working together to create sustainable impact for its members through the use of technology," Sharma added.

Ankit Mehrotra, Founder and CEO, Dineout said that as an industry body, NRAI had to take a stand for all aggregators.

"However, their major issue is around 'deep discounts'. Dineout as a dining out platform has been in existence for the last eight years and has never believed in deep discounting with its restaurant-first approach," Mehrotra told IANS.

"We allow the restaurants to select the discounts that they want based on day of the week and time of the day. This is something that the NRAI recognizes. We had a great meeting with NRAI and we are working with them as a tech platform to enable sustainable growth of the restaurant industry in the long run," he added.

According to the FHRAI, restaurants are willing to do business with online food apps but the current policies need to be reconsidered.

"Restaurants are constantly but subtly threatened to participate in deep discounting schemes without respite through the year with one scheme getting replaced by another.

"Our members are neither given an option nor the opportunity to agree nor are they even consulted. Promises made while launching any new scheme is almost always broken by changing the rules itself," said SK Jaiswal, Vice President of FHRAI.

Zomato did not reply to an email sent on the NRAI meeting. Zomato's Founder Deepinder Goyal had earlier requested restaurant owners to stop the #logout campaign.

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News Network
June 16,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 16: Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday termed as 'disturbing' the violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley and said the government should offer a clearer picture to the nation on the border issue.

He sought to know as to how Indian soldiers lost their lives during a de-escalation process and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh should come out with a clearer picture.

"Reports coming from #GalwanValley are disturbing. Why did our soldiers lose their lives during a de-escalation process? In national interest, the PM and RM should offer a clearer picture to the nation on the border issue with the Chinese. #LADAKHSTANDOFF," Gowda tweeted. An Indian Army officer and two soldiers were killed during the confrontation with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the first such incident in the last 45 years that reflected massive escalation in the five- week border row.

The Army said India lost an officer and two soldiers during the violent face-off, while there were casualties on the Chinese side as well.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 14: A 31 -year-old Bhojpuri dancer and another girl were rescued from human traffickers after the former alerted city police on landing at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Tuesday. They were to be received by a woman named Preethi at the airport.

The dancer had been told she was supposed to perform a few stage shows in the city, which has a significant Bhojpuri-speaking population. But when she realised she is likely to be pushed into flesh trade, she raised an alarm.

The woman, Radha (name changed), is a mother of four children and the lone breadwinner of the family. A few months ago, Radha came in contact with a woman named Soniya in New Delhi during a dance performance. Last month, Soniya got in touch with Radha and offered to pay Rs 40,000 per month if she performed in Bengaluru.

Radha agreed and was sent to Bengaluru from Chandigarh along with the other girl. During the journey, she learnt she was supposed to do more than just perform on stage. A shocked Radha informed the Central Industrial Security Force personnel manning KIA that she feared being pushed into prostitution. KIA police were informed and the women were rescued. Preethi was arrested.

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News Network
February 16,2020

Udupi, Feb 16: Nine people were killed after a private bus collided with a large roadside boulder in Udupi district in Karnataka on Saturday, the police said. The accident took place on Saturday evening, at around 5.45 pm, on the Mulnur Ghat at Abbas Kattingeri in Mala village, while the bus was on its way to Mangaluru from Sringeri, reported the news channel.

The bus, which was reportedly carrying around 35 passengers, was trying to manoeuvre a turn while travelling on a ghat road when the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle hit a massive boulder and the impact caused seven people to die on the spot. Two others passed away while they were on the way to the hospital.

The deceased passengers have been identified as Radha Ravi, Yogendra, Preetham Gowda, Basavaraju, Angana, Sharul and Ranjitha. The cleaner of the bus was also killed in the accident.

According to reports, the passengers in the bus were mostly in their early 20s and were employees of Vital Records Private Limited near JCK Industrial Park. Century Vital Records is a data security company which works in the Hebbal Industrial Mysuru. The group was visiting Udupi, Hornadu and Kudremukh.

While some of the injured persons were rushed to Manipal hospital, others were taken to the Karkala city government hospital, police said.

The police have said that rash and negligent driving by the driver is likely to have caused the accident. A case has been registered at the Karkala Rural Police Station, the police said.

Last month, three persons were killed and four others were injured after a fatal collision between a van and a bus near Bengaluru. Both the vehicles caught fire after the impact, but while passengers of the bus, travelling from Bengaluru to Shivamogga, managed to escape, the three passengers who were trapped in the van could not escape and were charred to death.

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