FIXING LOGISTICS

Inside a store that stocks cement, Mandeep Rati sits across a table, partially in the dark. He is the owner of a truck fleet in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh. His 10 trucks are in the business since 2011, when logistics used to be primarily a cash-based affair. To travel between Delhi and Gujarat and return the same route, his drivers carried ₹35,000 in cash for toll payments, food breaks at dhabas, and other charges. Rati also couldn’t tell his customers where the trucks were during the journey. Drivers, at times, did not pick up calls.

Two years ago, a Bangalore-based start-up – BlackBuck – approached Rati. They showed him a ‘BOSS’ app, through which he could track the truck’s trip. His trucks were fitted with GPS devices and he could keep a watch on the number of kilometres the trucks ran in a day. He could also guide the drivers if they get on to a wrong route. Rati also uses the app for diesel payments and FASTag recharges. The tag is affixed to the truck’s windscreen and enables automatic deduction of toll charges. It is linked to a prepaid account and employs radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. Much like any consumer payments app, Rati uses various digital payments modes such as UPI, debit cards and Netbanking to pay through the app. This frees him from