Demonetisation woes: Start-ups organise micro-ATMs, exigency funds for staff

Only 10 days now remain as the demonetisation clock ticks to December 30, 2016, the 50-day deadline set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In these difficult times of notebandi (demonetisation) and long queues outside banks and ATMs across India, what a relief it would be if your office allows flexi-hours to enable you to sweat it out to draw cash? Or, manages a micro-ATM in office itself? Or, sets up an exigency fund to draw an interest-free, short-term loan in cash for a week’s requirements...

These are among the steps taken by some of the IT companies to keep their staff in good humour. Being in the digital world did not mean these information technologists did not face problems like others. Despite digital transactions, they, too, needed cash for their day-to-day smaller requirements.

So, some of the start-ups have gone the extra mile to ease the pain of demonetisation for their employees. The Government banned the use of higher denomination currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs.500 across India since November 8.

“Many of our 450-odd staff did not even have an Aadhaar Card. We arranged for it to be made in our office itself. We also set up an exigency fund for them to draw cash like an interest-free loan they could return next week. Besides, we had bank officials visit our office four or five times in a month to disburse cash to our staff,” Brijesh Agrawal, Founder and CEO, Tolexo, a 100 per cent subsidiary of IndiaMart and a marketplace for industrial and business goods, told BusinessLine .

Also, he said, his firm arranged for mobile micro-ATMs to be brought to some of the offices for disbursement of cash on a weekly basis.

Sameer Grover, Founder-CEO of CrownIt, an app-only merchant discovery and privileges platform, said his start-up issued special debit cards to assist its 180-strong staff with purchases of groceries, food, etc, from some points of sale (POS). Besides, the start-up offered them flexible duty hours to allow them to draw money at ATMs. “We chalked out a plan for them to go there in batches and had an ATM in our building for them to draw cash.”

Grover said CrownIt also helped some of its foreign visitors draw cash to ease their woes.

Mayank Bhangadia, Co-Founder, Roposo, a Gurugram-based leading fashion social network, said: “Most of our staff were already into digital payments and did not face much of a problem. We also arranged salary advances for them to beat the demonetisation woes.”

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