In Brief: Swiggy launches wallet; Google to file patent in India; Traders go on hunger strike against Amazon, Flipkart

Bengaluru-based food delivery platform Swiggy has forayed into payments by launching its wallet services called Swiggy Money, multiple media report said.

The wallet will currently be used only to credit amounts for the cancelled orders, a notification in the company’s FAQ (frequently asked questions) column said.

The reports further said that going forward, Swiggy Money will function like a usual digital wallet to store money and pay for transactions on the platform.

Swiggy Money will be powered by ICICI Bank and is fully compliant with RBI’s Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI). 

Users can access the wallet by completing a minimum KYC (know your customer). It will also add UPI, credit card, debit card and net banking options to load money.

Google

Technology giant Google is looking to improve on its Google Maps’ estimated arrival time (ETA) feature, for which it is looking for a patent in India.

According to a Financial Express report, the new machine learning technology will help in predicting the speed of vehicles for common routes, helping users to better their time estimates.

The new patent helps in predicting the speed of a vehicle moving on a certain route. It tracks the speed of the first set of vehicles moving on a particular road and then combines it with another database of the speed of the second set of vehicles moving in the same direction. By combining these two databases, it helps Google Maps predict ETA.

As of now, Google Maps service lets a user to select the fastest way to reach to their destinations. 

Hunger Strike

Intensifying protests against ecommerce companies Amazon and Flipkart, several traders from across the country went on a day-long hunger strike, led by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

CAIT has been appealing to the government to take action against the ecommerce companies over alleged tax avoidance, deep discounting, predatory pricing and violation of foreign direct investment norms.

The traders’ body also alleges that Amazon and Flipkart are indulging in preferential seller system and more than 80% of their sales are made by just their 10-15 preferred sellers since last many years. 

Last month, CAIT wrote a letter to the finance minister requesting to probe into the matter.

The body had earlier filed a writ petition at the Rajasthan High Court against the two ecommerce companies citing the violation of FDI rules.

The court asked Enforcement Directorate to complete an ongoing investigation into allegations of FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) violations by the companies.