BigBasket to supply 85% products in 3-4 hours; 10 streaming channels in legal tangle

BigBasket is streamlining operations to execute faster deliveries. Netflix, Amazon Prime and 10 others get notices from a Madhya Pradesh high court bench for streaming uncensored content.

BigBasket to deliver 85% products in 3-4 hours

Online grocery delivery platform BigBasket’s 90-minute delivery option and planned next-day delivery option have been merged into one plan offering in a bid to supply more products in less than four hours.

The company will now offer more than 85% of its products in three-four hours while keeping select long-tail items for next-day delivery, The Economic Times reported.

With this move, the Alibaba-backed company looks to up its game in a competitive sector, fuelled by the entry of quick-delivery platforms like Google-backed Dunzo and Naspers-backed Swiggy.

BigBasket has moved from smaller, dark stores to opening warehouses that are three times larger and also re-hauled its supply chain across cities to fulfil the majority of customer orders faster, chief executive Hari Menon told ET.

The Bangalore-based grocer had raised $150 million in a funding round led by South Korean firm Mirae Asset, earlier this year. The funds were intended to help it penetrate further into its existing markets by investing more in first-mile delivery, scaling-up supply chain and developing reseller channels.

Netflix, Amazon Prime and others get notices on uncensored content 

Ten online streaming services including Amazon Prime and Netflix have been served legal notices by a Madhya Pradesh high court bench with concerns flagged by public interest litigation or PIL seeking regulation and removal of uncensored and explicit content from these platforms.

The petitioner contended that the government had prohibited pornographic websites in 2015 and yet, the respondents had been streaming "nude, obscene, sexually explicit, unlawful and vulgar content,” according to legal news website Livelaw.

The plea by NGO Maatr Foundation expressed that the over-the-top or OTT players had been "objectifying women" by way of their content which was easily accessible to the public at large. It further added that content offered by these streaming platforms are easily accessible to even children below 18 years.

The next hearing on the plea will be taken up in December. The other respondents in the case include AltBalaji, Ullu, Voot, Vuclip, Hoichoi, Yashraj Films, Arre and Zee5.

Riding a mobile wave over the years, OTT platforms have grown from nine in 2012 to over 30 in 2018. The content market in India is set to increase from 300 million users as on December 2018 to 550 million users by the end of the financial year 2023, says a report titled Unravelling the digital video consumer by KPMG and EROS Now.