Chennai: With incessant rain unleashing its fury in Chennai, a host of start-ups and companies from around the country have stepped in to provide relief and help to those affected. Unlike the conventional method of monetary assistance, these companies have astutely turned their business model to lend a supporting hand to the flood victims.
Here we have compiled a list of 10 such companies who are doing their bit for the cause
1) E-commerce company Paytm is offering free instant recharges of Rs. 30 for those who are stuck in Chennai to connect with their near and dear ones. Users who want to avail of this facility can dial Paytm's hotline (18001030033).
2) Food ordering app Zomato has launched a scheme where they will provide meals for flood relief victims, and is offering to buy one meal from their end for every one purchased on the website. It is also encouraging users to donate meals to those in Chennai on its app. A meal for 2 costs Rs 100, and the company has tied up with local NGOs to deliver the meal in 30 minutes.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted that over 25,000 meals were ordered by users, making for a total of 50,000 meals served, once the company adds in its share.
3) The healthcare discovery platform Practo is calling doctors listed on their platform to see if they are available to lend services to those affected. It has a spreadsheet with phone numbers of verified doctors and hospitals available for help in an online spreadsheet.
4) Tansportation app Ola has created has created safety zones equipped with relief supplies and first aid. This service is open to everyone, free of cost, with address details and contact numbers provided on its blog. Last month Ola had also put out boats for the flood-affected parts of Chennai.
5) Zoomcar, a self drive car rental company, is providing free pick up and drop facilities to the nearest hospital, requests can be tweeted to them, and accessed on its hotline at 044-42052772. "Ten SUVs have helped many reach their local hospital. We're getting calls every 10 minutes," said ZoomCar founder Greg Moran.
6) Telecom giant Airtel, while not exactly a startup, is providing free credit of 50MB mobile data for Airtel prepaid mobile customers with a validity of two days.
7) Vodafone is also offering pre-approved chota-credit of Rs. 10 to all pre-paid customers, and a credit of ten minutes for Vodafone to Vodafone calls, and 100MB of mobile data to all customers with data-enabled handsets.
8) Online grocer Bigbasket.com has a microsite, NammaChennaiRelief, where people can donate groceries online to a common pool as part of relief material. The start up has tied with a Chennai based NGO to deliver goods every two days.
9) Stayzilla, online aggregator for budget accommodation, is encouraging people to open up their homes to those affected by the floods; it started a helpline for people to list their homes.
10) Messaging app Lookup has partnered with youth volunteer non-profit Bhumi, to enable doorstep pickup of clothes and other materials from Chennai, to be donated to the flood victims using the chat app.
