News Roundup: 12 Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [31 August -5 September]

Competition Commission of India (CCI) has accused Google for abusing its dominant position to rig search outcomes which includes actual search result and sponsored links. 30 companies including Flipkart, Facebook, Nokia’s maps division, MakeMyTrip.com confirmed the allegations.

Let’s Have A Look At The Important Developments Of The Week

Ola Goes CNG-Only Within Delhi

After Delhi High Court’s orders, Ola could only ply cabs fuelled with CNG in the national capital. It has replaced its existing cab categories with “Within Delhi” and “Delhi To NCR” category.

Lookup Introduces Hyperlocal Deliveries; Partners Roadrunnr

Users can get delivered anything by just texting on Lookup. The service is available  across Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi

Wingify Launches NotCRUD, A Community Platform To Showcase Indian Software Products

Building a ProductHunt for India, Wingify, launched community platform to showcase best of Indian product, technology and design thinking at notCRUD. People like Santosh Panda, Harish Sivaramakrishnan and Avinash Raghava are already a part of the community.

Ola, Uber Introduces INR 300 Service Fee For Drivers

To stop drivers flicking between Ola and Uber for customers, the two companies have started charging their drivers INR 300 per week as a service fee in order to prevent them from using other platforms.

Meru Cabs launches first of its kind Carpool service in India

Encouraging to meet new people and reduce travelling expenses Meru cabs announced the launch of ride sharing service for its customers across India.

Uber Rape Case Victim Voluntarily Ends US Lawsuit Against The Company

Indian woman, who had sued Uber accusing one of its driver for raping her, has voluntarily ended lawsuit against the company. The woman had sued Uber in US federal court stating that the company failed to maintain basic safety procedures.

Amazon Launches “Kindle Unlimited”; Get Access To Millions Of Books For $3 A Month

For Indian readers, Amazon launched Kindle Unlimited that allows its users to pick and read books from over a million Kindle books at a monthly fee of $3 (INR 199).

Uber Might Launch Its Own Mobile Payment Wallet In India

The company is reportedly working to launch its own mobile wallet in the country.

Practo Launches In Indonesia

Continuing its global march, Practo marked an entry into the Indonesian market. Its search will enable consumers to get in touch with over 4200 verified doctors in over 60% clinics across Jakarta DKI.

Helpchat Opens Its API For Businesses

To help users win their daily battle with tasks and make their lives easier, Helpchat opened its platform for API integrations. This will allow businesses to integrate directly into the personal assistant messenger app and acquire and serve new users for their businesses.

Flipkart Introduces Quicker Refunds For CoD Returns

To ensure quick refunds for Cash on Deliver (COD) orders, Flipkart announced the launch of its instant refund mechanism via Immediate Payments System (IMPS) transfers. The CoD IMPS return facility is currently active for banks having IMPS transaction capability.

Other developments of the week

Mumbai Based Scootsy Will Now Deliver Books In 60 Minutes

Entering new domain of service, local discovery and delivery service, Scootsy entered into an exclusive partnership with India Book Distributors (IBD) to deliver books in 60 minutes to major parts of Mumbai city.

Uber Now Accepts Cash As A Payment Option In Delhi & Bangalore

Besides using the debit/credit cards and digital wallet options, Uber commuters can now pay in cash to the driver at the end of the trip The service has been started in over 20 cities.

Mumbai’s Kaali-Peeli Taxis Go On Strike

About 10,000-15,000 Kaali-Peeli taxi drivers have demanded ban on Uber, Ola and TaxiForSure. The drivers alleged that app-based taxis have affected their business.

Droom Makes Foray Into Aerial Vehicle Segment

With its disruptive mobile-first approach, Droom marked its foray in aerial vehicle segment. It has tied up with an online marketplace for private jets and helicopters, JetSetGo to sell as well as lease private planes and choppers.

Yatra hires Chakrapani Gollapali as chief business officer of Holidays

To direct and manage overall business operations for the Holidays unit of Yatra, travel booking website appointed Chakrapani Gollapali as the chief business officer of Holidays.

Ex-Homeshop18 CEO Sundeep Malhotra starts new interior design venture Renomania

Bitten by entrepreneur bug, Sundeep Malhotra, ex CEO of Homeshop18, launched a new interior design and home design platform called Renomania along with other co-founders.

Jabong transfers over 100 staff to studio firm Moksha

The fashion ecommerce company, Jabong, plans to reduce its operational liabilities by transferring over 100 employees from its production department to the payrolls of Moksha.

Flipkart Receives Backlash For Its “Beauty Breeds Success For Women” Email

Oops!! As a promotional mail for women’s products, Flipkart sent out a mail reading “Beauty breeds success” which implied that women achieve more success owing to their appearances. This has received severe backlash on the company over social media.

Ravi Krishna, Director, Product at Zynga joins Helpchat

To fortify leadership ranks of its product team, chat-based personal assistant app, Helpchat, appointed Ravi Krishna, former Director of Product at Zynga as its SVP, Strategic Products.

Ravi’s experience is expected to create enhanced and intuitive personalized experience within the Helpchat app.

MakeMyTrip revamps Loyalty Programme

Exclusive offers and benefits are a part of optimal marketing strategy. MakeMyTrip revamped its loyalty programme and re-launched it as My Rewards for its users to avail better, simpler and more rewarding offers from the company.

‘Little’ announces senior management hires

Launched in July this year, app only marketplace in the Online to Offline space (O2O), Little, made two senior appointments viz Suraj Panigrahy as VP, Sales and Merchant Acquisition and Wishy Arora as VP Products.

ShopClues Launches Kids and Gifting store

Competing with fast paced ecommerce marketplace players, ShopClues introduced two new categories on its platform viz Kids store and Gifting store.