New Delhi: Amid the raging debate over Net Neutrality in India, Flipkart, which is among the partnering apps of the Airtel Zero programme, is facing serious heat on the social media.
Flipkart CEO Sachin Bansal took to Twitter to slam the so-called hypocrisy on ‘Net Neutrality'.
He tweeted saying that when ‘foreign companies' offer ‘free services' it is termed as innovation, hinting at the recently introduced Facebook-Reliance Internet.org. The Facebook-Reliance tie-up aims to provide access to popular websites including Facebook with zero data charge across 2G and 3G platforms.
Bharti Airtel on Monday launched an open marketing platform called Airtel Zero that will allow customers to access a variety of mobile applications for free while the data charges will be paid by the application providers.
"Akin to the established concept of toll-free voice calling, Airtel Zero will allow everyone from big marketers to small-time application developers to make parts or their entire mobile app free for customers - thus reviving interest of dormant customers, attracting new potential users and increasing retention," Airtel said in a statement.
Flipkart CEO Sachin Bansal defended his company's decision to tie-up with Airtel, given that they have received a lot of negative response in light of the news, especially on social media.
Below are Bansal's tweets:
