NRAI partners with DotPe to offer digital ordering and payments solution

The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has partnered with Gurugram-based startup DotPe to launch a digital ordering and payments solution. 

The contactless solution will allow customers to scan a QR code to order from a menu and pay for their meals at a restaurant, as per a statement. Order-related communications will take place on Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp, it added.

The solution is expected to benefit more than five lakh restaurants under the NRAI. 

Read: NRAI rolls out scheme to help restaurants tide over Covid-19 crisis

Last month, restaurant aggregator Zomato set up a similar contactless dining solution for its customers.

“This (the solution) will free them (the restaurants) from the clutches of the modern-day digital landlords. NRAI will unveil more industry-friendly technology solutions in the coming days, which will hopefully change the contours of this trade and benefit lakhs of business owners rather than a handful of digital giants,”Anurag Katriar, president, NRAI, said.

Established in 1982, NRAI is governed by a committee of over 35 restaurant CEOs and owners, representing national and international brands from the food and beverages (F&B) sector. It has a presence in Mumbai, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, New Delhi and Noida.

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When the lockdown is lifted, NRAI members will be able to avail the DotPe services at a flat rate rather than a percentage-based commission, the statement added.

“I’m confident that our solution will allow the restaurants to completely own the customer experience, create (their) own digital channel for both online and offline ordering, and thereby manage their expenses and customer data better,” Shailaz Nag, founder of DotPe, said.

Last year, Nag, along with Anurag Gupta and Gyanesh Sharma, set up technology startup DotPe, which provides digital transformation and commerce solutions to brick-and-mortar outlets. In February, the company raised about $8 million in an outsized seed funding round led by global payment gateway firm PayU and Fosun RZ Capital.