The ongoing currency ban in India has thrown several interesting questions, which would be recalled by economists time and again. Case studies would be created out of this historical decision to ban 86% of currency in a single go.
However, the spirit of entrepreneurship would also be remembered, currency ban has inspired lots of entrepreneurs to come up with innovative ideas in these times of distress and economical transformation.
We had reported about a startup in Noida which is providing helpers who can stand in queue on behalf of customers, and charge an hourly rate for these services.
Taking the spirit of entrepreneurship even further, another Noida based startup has taken the concept of ‘cash on delivery’ to a new level, altogether; because they are actually delivering cash to customers.
The Modus Operandi
Visitors to www-TailMill-dot-com are being provided a unique service, which is not offered anywhere else. On purchase of a particular product (branded flour), customers can get cash in return for online payments.
Here is how it works:
- Step 1: Customer visits the website, and orders a unit of the branded flour
- Step 2: Along with the price of the product, the customer can pay an additional amount, for which he or she needs cash in return. Hence, if the product price is Rs 300, and you want cash of Rs 1000, then pay Rs 1300 via online medium.
- Step 3: Within 24 hours, you would receive your product, along with Rs 1000 in cash.
This service is only valid for Noida residents as of now, and a cap of Rs 1000 per customer exists as of now.
Arjun Rungta, co-founder of this startup, said, “It is a simple formula, whatever cash we have collected in the last 15-20 days after demonetisation, we are offering it to our customers. They just have to buy any TWF product online and from there they can click on delivery of cash. Currently, we have a cap of Rs. 1,000 per day per customer”
As per available reports, minimum order which needs to be done in order to get cash in return is Rs 140 for a returning customer and Rs 160 for a new customer. However, when we accessed the website, then the minimum price of the said product was listed as Rs 295 for a 5 KG pack of branded flour.
Is It Legal?
Customers of this portal can get cash in denominations of Rs 100 and Rs 500, once he pays the same amount online. Hence, in a way, they are laundering the money which is paid online, and delivering them offline .
How are they getting such huge amount of cash has been revealed by them – allegedly, they are only returning the cash that they have received from customers (those customers, who are willing to pay via cash, which seems highly improbable right now).
Arjun clarified, “In the last 15 days, we have collected new currency through various cash-on-delivery options. Now, we have enough cash to go with the formula. It is completely legitimate. The consumers have to pay Rs1,000 plus the product cost and we will give them currency without any charges..”
In the statement, the co-founder has clarified that this scheme is legal, and they are not breaking any rules.
Is this new scheme an excellent exploitation of the situation or is it an illegitimate plot to lure customers into an ecommerce portal? Do let us know by commenting right here!
what is the website URL for cash delivery to home ?