In Brief: Ola revises commission structure; Govt wants traders to promote local products

Ride hailing platform Ola has seen a 7-10% growth in the number of driver-partners on its platform after the Bengaluru headquartered cab aggregator rolled out revised standardised commissions in the top 6-7 cities, The Economic Times reported. The revised structure, with an average take rate of 20% for the company, gives drivers a more transparent view of earnings as well as charges on tolls, taxes, commissions and parking, the report said. 

Earlier in the month, Ola had said that it would standardise its driver commissions and remove an incentive-driven model to help the drivers benefit with their earnings.

Also Read: Ola appoints Sanjiv Saddy as senior vice president of corporate affairs

Piyush Goyal asks traders to promote swadeshi products

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has asked traders to promote swadeshi by selling and consuming local products, The Economic Times reported. He said it will help boost economic growth in India to double digits. The ET, citing Goyal said, "If traders start using swadeshi (indigenous) goods, sell swadeshi products and promote those items, the economic growth will boom...no one can stop us from growing at 7, 8, and 9 % and double digits.” The minister has also asked the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to prepare a database of a number of shops and people employed in those establishments in the country as it will help the government implement demands made by the traders’ community effectively.

Amazon, Flipkart need to establish a system for collecting plastic waste: CPCB to NGT

Ecommerce giants Amazon and Flipkart have to fulfil their extended producer responsibility under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 and are required to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste generated due to the packaging of their products, the Central Pollution Control Board told the National Green Tribunal. The CPCB told the NGT that as per provisions 9(2) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, "Primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachet or pouches or packaging is of producers, importers and brand owners who introduce the products in the market.” The CPCB has warned both the ecommerce companies and have asked them to obtain registration as brand owners after submitting proper documents.

Banks approve reduced fees for UPI, RuPay

Banks will not charge a part of the fees on unified payments interface (UPI) and RuPay card transactions as long as the merchant discount rate (MDR) remains zero following the government announcement, The Economic Times reported. The move was discussed and approved in the NPCI steering committee meeting on Monday, the report said. This comes at a time when e-payments firms are struggling due to zero MDR and are looking at the government for a breather, it added.

PhonePe rolls out Flipkart’s Pay Later facility on its platform

Bengaluru headquartered digital payments platform PhonePe has launched Flipkart’s Pay Later facility on its platform. The payments through the Flipkart Pay Later solution can be completed in a single click. While transacting on PhonePe, users can now choose the Flipkart Pay Later credit option on the app and clear their dues through one single payment by the 10th of the next month, with no extra cost, PhonePe said in a statement. 

Oye! Rickshaw bags $10 mn from Chiratae Ventures

Gurugram headquartered electric rickshaw mobility platform Oye! Rickshaw has raised $10 million in Series A round of funding led by venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures, The Entrackr reported. Chinese electronics company Xiaomi and Corporate Executive Officer of Hero MotoCorp Pawan Munjal also participated in the round, the report said. Existing investor Matrix Partners also participated in the round, it added.

Pine Lab Paper POS launched

Digital retail payments firm Pine Labs has rolled out Pine Labs Paper POS for its merchants. It is an all-in-one solution for accepting multiple forms of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Bharat QR payments through a single merged static QR at the point of sale, the Noida headquartered company said in a statement.  Merchants can use the solution POS to accept payments across different kinds of UPI and Bharat QR payments, including those from Amazon Pay, Google Pay, PayZapp, PhonePe, YONO, among others.