In an attempt to create more transparency for buyers, ecommerce platforms selling in India will have to start furnishing more details about products, their source, and sellers, among other things, as per the new 'Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020' that was notified on Thursday. The effort to create consumer awareness comes against the backdrop of the Modi government’s push to promote Indian products over imported ones in order to boost the startup and the MSME sectors, which took...

In an effort to help employees stay motivated in the pandemic-ridden world, several top Indian startups such as OYO, Paytm, Zomato, and Grofers, over the last couple of months, have announced hefty employee stock ownership plans. Traditionally a wealth creation tool used by startups to retain top talent and offer incentives to senior executives, ESOPs have now become a way for companies to compensate employees in lieu of appraisals and amid salary cuts and furloughs. This comes at a time when...

Gone are days of waiting for months on end to hear back on loan applications, which only had a 50 percent chance, at best, of being approved - Robocash, a financial technology company that provides consumer lending and marketplace funding, claims it can process loans in up to 15 minutes. Robocash, an instant loan provider, has had quite the journey from Russia, to Manila, Philippines. The six-year old company, made its first foray into Southeast Asia in 2017, starting with the Philippines,...

About 90 percent of the total internet users in Southeast Asia used their cell phones to log on to the web Image credit: graphicstock Over 50,000 new people every day logged on to the internet between 2015 and 2019 in Southeast Asia, raising the total number of users by 100 million, to 360 million in 2019, a recent study by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co said. About 90 percent of the 360 million users used their cell phones to access the internet, the study said, with mobile apps becoming a...

The region sees an average of 5 million e-commerce orders in a day The e-commerce market in Southeast Asia has grown sevenfold since 2015, to $38 billion in 2019, far outpacing any other internet-based sector in the region, a recent study showed, adding the sector is expected to hit the $150 billion mark by 2025, thanks to more and more people using internet in the region. Even though ease and convenience have fuelled the boom in e-commerce around the world, steep online discounts have played...