At your service

|
  • 0

At your service

Sunday, 19 July 2020 | Shalini Saksena

At your service

Are you tired of not being able to get small things done? Do you want to send a dish to a friend or family but don’t have the time? Fret not. SHALINI SAKSENA tells you how app-based start-ups are here to lend a helping hand

We have heard of same day delivery of important documents via couriers. But what if you wanted a handyman for home repairs but didn’t know how to go about it or wanted a home chef or a home baker or wanted fumigation or pest control service or get your shoe laundered or needed help in getting a bank draft made? Well, a Mumbai-based start-up — Ease Your Life (EYL) — does all this and more. In fact, they even had a caterpillar delivered which was someone’s pet from Andheri to Grant Road in Mumbai, changed curtains in a client’s home, changed a flat tyre and provided a service to a client who didn’t want to go walk across the street to get a printout.   

A brainchild of Shashwat Bhatt and Jaymin Trivedi, EYL provides services across Mumbai, Gurugram, Delhi and Noida. The latest city added to their portfolio — during the lockdown — is Gwalior. While their company provides all kinds of service, it is broadly categorised under a few headings like pickup and drop that can be food items, parcels and or even documents. However, there are parameters to the weight and size of the package.

Trivedi recalls how their journey began four years back. “Our first task was over four years back, where we paid a phone bill for a customer who was busy. Since then there has been no looking back,” he tells you.

It is not just bills that EYL helps you with. You name it and they do it. “While there are many service providers who may step in to help the customer in terms of courier service or providing a handyman or delivering grocery and food but there is no other service provider that does all this and much more. Take an example. If you want a cake picked up from a vendor and have it delivered to a friend who lives 20 km away, we can do that. If you want help with pest control, we can do that. If you want a document delivered, we will do that. If you don’t know how to get a bank draft made. Worry not. Our man will meet you at the bank and sort out your problem,” Bhatt says.

Trivedi tells you that the idea to the duo came when they realised that people kept putting off some work because they just didn’t have the time or they wished someone would come in to do the more menial work. But they needed to build a business module for this so that people could get time to do what they loved doing. Since the day we began our service we have realised that there are so many people who want others to do the more mundane work for them because they want to spend time with family or friends,” Trivedi tells you.

Bhatt tells you that their USP lies in the fact that the customer doesn’t have to go to five different apps to book services for different needs. “All they have to do is come to our app and book the service they want. We want people to know that they don’t have to go to multiple apps, we want people to look at us as a super app. Even though there are some competitors, we are here to provide a service in a holistic manner. If you want a painter you call us, if you want a cleaner you call us, if you want a package delivered you call us,” Bhatt says. All one has to do is download the app and request in a service. Charges depend on the distance travelled by the service provider with a base price of Rs 40.

Rakesh Sharma, Sales and Marketing manager at Task Mitra, another Mumbai-based app company, tells you that they deliver groceries, medicine, letters or even pick up spare keys because a client was locked out. As of now, they serve Mumbaikars but plans are afoot to expand and even go international — Singapore and Australia,” Sharma says.

Given the present pandemic and the scare of catching the virus, the service provided is totally cash-free. “The customer doesn’t have to pay task mitra any cash; everything is done online since he is empowered with the necessary modes by which he can make the payment to the merchant. When a customer wants something to be procured, they put down the necessary information so that it can be understood by the delivery professionals who are well-versed in a wide range of tasks and how things work,” Sharma explains.

Since the time they began their operations around four years back, they have grown from strength to strength and today they provide service 24X7 and have over 500-1000 delivery professionals, who work full-time or part-time, placed at almost every corner of Mumbai. This makes it possible for them to provide delivery in the shortest possible time.

“Our delivery charges range between Rs 250-Rs 650. The pricing is complex and depends on the work done and the distance traveled. People who know us and the convenience that comes with being with us, for them we provide a range of services like invitation deliveries, delivery of documents that need multiple signatures, help the elderly to get their medicines and deliver food from a restaurant that is more than 20 km away,” Sharma says.

He tells you that over the years, more and more people are demanding a customised service since they don’t have the time to do it themselves. Also, there are people who want things to be done immediately and looking for a service provider who can do the same and are willing to pay a price for it,” Sharma says.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda