Inclusive Growth in a Mobile Way: m.Paani
Time: 5 am, Location: A Home in Dharavi, Mumbai
The alarm tone song Aai chikni chameli, chhup ke akeli… a Bollywood1 song was blaring on a Chinese mobile handset.
Sudha Deshpande, the 35-year-old, woman of the house, wakes up, looks at her ringing mobile and switches the alarm off. She picks up 5-6 empty buckets from her home and goes down the stairs to place the buckets in a long queue to fill water from a shared water connection in her basti2. It is a usual morning, as she wakes early to fill enough water for a day. However, even at 5 a m there were ten people ahead of her in the long queue of blue-red-yellow-grey buckets from different households in her locality. She cribs about her fate, abuses her neighbors and keeps her buckets, haggling her way to the 6th position. The local Municipal Corporation provides water around 10 a m, but to get enough water for her family she has to struggle daily. This was just the start of her struggle for the day as she heads back home on the first floor, which has a single room with an open kitchen.
Sudha lived with her three kids aged 6, 7 and 12 in Dharavi one of the largest slums in the world, with the populace of 1-1.5 million people and covering an area of only 1 square meter, which was not the only appalling fact of this slum. Post dealing with her first step towards her regular battle of water, she has to rush to a community washroom, where the queue is endless as there is only one toilet for 1400 odd people.3
Her kids usually went to the nearby railway tracks to attend their nature’s call, as for them it is very difficult to wake up so early to stand in line at the toilet. In fact, they actually enjoy the railway tracks.............
m.Paani – Leveraging the Mobile for Water
We live in an ironical world, where more than 2.5 billion people do not have access to sanitation, 1 billion do not have access to safe drinking water but 5.1 billion have access to a mobile phone.............
About Akanksha
Akanksha Hazari, a MBA graduate from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, was awarded $1 million as the winner of the Hult Global Case Challenge..........
Bottom of the Pyramid – An opportunity?
India with an estimated population of about 1.25 billion in 2013 (Exhibit I (a)) is expected to cross China (Exhibit I (b)) to become the most populous nation by 2028. These prospects are scary because of the tremendous strain on resources and infrastructure that a population explosion could cause...........
Mobile Penetration in the Developing World
Mobile phone usage in the world has grown exponentially, driven primarily by emerging markets like India, China, Brazil, Nigeria, etc., (Exhibit III). India’s mobile penetration is 73% as of January 2014, up from about 30% in 2009. Nigeria, Africa’s largest mobile market with more than 125 million subscribers in early 2014 has a market penetration of 75%.............
How does m.Paani work?
m.Paani uses the familiar concept of ‘loyalty programs’as the driving force behind its business model. Loyalty programs are used across industries to incentivize customers to remain ‘loyal’ to a particular company and build a long-term relationship with the customer.................
How Digits of Loyalty Program is Changing Lives (Digital Finance to Development Finance)?
m.Paani follows the concept of digital finance but it is noteworthy to understand their mechanism and their business model. How do they create digital finance into development finance?
m.Paani operates as a vital link between their alliance partners and communities and helps both of them through their innovative services. m.Paani’s alliance partners include major Indian telecom companies, FMCG companies, local retail shops, marketing retailers, local education & health partners...........
Assignment Questions
I. What is distinctive about m.Paani’s approach to entrepreneurship? How would you compare and contrast it with the traditional approaches?
II. Comment on the sustainability of loyalty based reward point model to target BOP customer base. Emphasize its strength and weakness.
III. ..............
Exhibits
Exhibit I (a): Total Population by Age Group, 2013 (in thousands)
Exhibit I (b): Population growth in China, India, Nigeria and USA (1950-2100, actual and projected)
Exhibit II: Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation Facilities
Exhibit III: Top 10 Countries with Mobile Population (in the hands of millions)
Exhibit IV: Mobile Usage in India
Exhibit V: m.Paani Points
Exhibit VI: m.Paani - New Rewards
Exhibit VII: m.Paani – Business Model