Also in this letter:
■ Aarogya Setu data protocols discontinued in May, RTI reveals
■ India’s PUBG replacement BGMI removed from app stores
■ Tata Neu CTO Sauvik Banerjjee quits four months after launch
Ola to fire about 1,000 employees across verticals, focus on electric
Ola is in the process of firing about 1,000 employees even as it ramps up hiring for its electric mobility business, company insiders and recruitment agencies said.
Details: We reported on July 6 that the company had started handing out pink slips and that it had yet to formalise annual appraisals for many of its employees.
- The number of layoffs was estimated at around 400-500 but sources said the final figure could be as high as 1,000.
- The layoffs will affect workers in its mobility, hyperlocal, fintech and used cars businesses.
- A source close to the developments said Ola was hiring four people for every person it was letting go.
Focus on electric: The restructuring exercise – which is expected to last a few more weeks – is aimed at increasing Ola’s focus on its electric mobility business, for which it is hiring “aggressively”, according to executives engaged in the recruitment process.
The Bengaluru company previously announced plans to manufacture its own lithium-ion battery cells and an electric car.
We reported on June 25 that Ola was shutting down its quick commerce business Ola Dash and used car sales business Ola Cars, signalling an end to its super app ambitions.
Yes, but: Ola is struggling to sell its first EV vehicle – the Ola S1 Pro – after a fire incident and several complaints about quality control. We reported on June 24 that the company was only able to sell 130-200 scooters a day.
Aarogya Setu data protocols discontinued in May, RTI reveals
The government has discontinued Aarogya Setu’s data access and sharing protocol as it seeks to convert the contact tracing app into a ‘national health app’.
Yes, but: Privacy activists have raised concerns over the security of personal data that has been collected since April 2020, even as new users download the app every day.
In response to an application filed by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) under the Right to Information Act, the government said that the Aarogya Setu Data Access and Sharing Protocol, 2020, was discontinued on May 10, 2022.
The Empowered Group on Technology and Data Management – which was the competent authority to extend the protocol – was dissolved way back in September 2020, said the RTI response.
A spokesperson for National Informatics Center (NIC), which designed Aarogya Setu, said the protocol was discontinued because “it had lost its relevance”.
But the government did not give a clear answer on whether this data has been destroyed or not, said Krishnesh Bapat, a lawyer at IFF.
The IFF also expressed surprise that the protocol was extended twice after the empowered group was dissolved and has asked what happens to the data collected by the app while the protocol was in force.
Covid fixture: Aarogya Setu was an Indian Covid-19 contact-tracing, syndromic mapping and self-assessment digital service developed by the NIC under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), primarily as a mobile app. The app hit more than 100 million downloads within 40 days of its launch.
ET Ecommerce Index
We’ve launched three indices – ET Ecommerce, ET Ecommerce Profitable, and ET Ecommerce Non-Profitable – to track the performance of recently listed tech firms. Here’s how they’ve fared so far.
India’s PUBG replacement BGMI removed from app stores
Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), the Indian version of popular multiplayer game PUBG, was taken down from Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store on Thursday evening. New State, a more recent game from Krafton, remains available for download.
Govt order: A Google spokesperson said, “On receipt of the (government) order, following established process, we have notified the affected developer and have blocked access to the app that remained available on the Play Store in India.”
A Krafton spokesperson said, “We are clarifying how BGMI was removed from the Google Play store and the App Store and will let you know once we get specific information.”
Catch up quick: The South Korean gaming major Krafton launched BGMI in India in 2021 after PUBG and other Chinese apps were banned in September 2020.
This game is only available to users in India, and is very similar to PUBG in terms of look and gameplay. Within a year of its launch, BGMI had crossed over 100 million users on iPhone and Android.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Tata Neu CTO Sauvik Banerjjee quits four months after launch
Sauvik Banerjjee
Sauvik Banerjjee, founding member and chief technology officer (CTO) of Tata Neu, has resigned from the ecommerce venture of the Tata group, people aware of the matter said.
A Neu problem: His exit comes just four months after the Mumbai-based conglomerate launched the much-hyped ‘super app’ in April, after several delays.
Neu was launched with a marketing blitz around the Indian Premier League, for which it was the title sponsor. This is the first major exit of a senior executive since its launch.
Tata Neu’s CTO post has fallen vacant at a time when it is looking to fix various tech glitches and enhance the shopping experience on the app. We reported in June that the ecommerce vertical had missed its monthly sales target of $200 million by about $50 million in the first month after its launch.
People aware of the matter said the Tatas may replace Banerjjee with a TCS veteran but are also looking at external candidates.
Cognizant aims to maintain financial services growth rate amid digital pivot
Despite macroeconomic headwinds in the US, Cognizant Technology Solutions will look to maintain its growth rate in financial services – which accounts for a little under one-third of its total revenue – amid a digital pivot geared towards bagging orders with higher margins, Rajesh Nambiar, its India chairman and managing director, told us.
Cognizant’s second quarter revenue, at $4.9 billion, was its largest ever in a quarter, Nambiar said after its earnings call on Thursday.
Net profit rose 12.7% in its fiscal second quarter, while revenue was up 9.5% in constant currency terms.
It has, however, forecast lower revenue for the ongoing financial year amid macroeconomic headwinds in the US market.
The company said revenue growth would come in at 8.5-9.5% in constant currency to about $19.7-19.9 billion for the full year, from the 9-11% guidance in the previous quarter.
This is Cognizant’s second consecutive cut to its revenue guidance in FY22 from the $20-20.5 billion forecast at the end of the fourth quarter of FY21.
The company follows a January-December fiscal year.
ETtech Done Deals
- Revenue management solutions provider PriceLabs has raised $30 million from Summit Partners. This is its first equity funding since inception. The startup said it would use the capital to expand its team and develop more products.
- Chattybao, a shopping platform built on instant messaging app WhatsApp, has raised over $5 million led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and Info Edge Ventures. The round also saw participation from 7Square Ventures and other angel investors.
- Nutrition and food supplements platform GetSupp has raised Rs 9.5 crore led by General Catalyst and Better Capital. Prominent angel investors, including Saurabh Garg (founder, NoBroker), Ankit Nagori (founder, Curefoods), Kunal Shah (founder, Cred), Rohit Kapoor (former global CMO, Oyo), and Mohit Sud (VP, marketing, Unilever).
- Community-led ecommerce startup The Nestery has raised over Rs 6 crore in funding led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). Founded in 2019, The Nestery is a marketplace for children and maternity products that helps parents discover what to buy, when, and why.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Paytm’s focus is on payments, lending products: One97 Communications Ltd, the parent firm of Paytm, will sharpen its focus on payments and distribution of lending products, the company’s founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in a letter to shareholders, as a part of its first annual report since going public in November 2021.
Ola signs deal with govt to make EV battery cells: Ola Electric has signed a letter of intent with the government to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells. The letter was submitted to Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey, the company said. Currently, all Indian EV makers import cells from China, South Korea and other countries.
Prof who predicted Zomato at Rs 41 has fresh take: When New York University finance professor Aswath Damodaran predicted last year Zomato’s stock price would fall to Rs 41, not too many people believed that would happen. But the company’s shares closed at Rs 43.95 on Wednesday, vindicating Damodaran’s assessment. He has now revalued Zomato’s shares and said their fair value has dropped from Rs 40.79 to Rs 35.32.
Meta flags recession fears: Meta will reduce its pace of hiring in the face of macroeconomic headwinds that are taking a toll on its performance and growth prospects, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said after the company reported its first-ever yearly decline in revenue for the second quarter.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ The second wave of India’s crackdown on Chinese tech is here (Rest of World)
■ How Tor is fighting — and beating — Russian censorship (Wired)
■ Instagram knows you don’t like its changes. It doesn’t care. (The Washington Post)
