Karnataka Proposes 10-Hour Workday, Raises Controversy? - Indian Startup News 266

0:00 Carnatha is looking to extend the standard workday from 9 to 10 hours. And that's not all because the state also wants to nearly triple the legal limit on overtime from 50 hours per quarter to 144 hours. And if this proposal gets cleared, it could directly affect thousands of workers, especially in Bengaluru, the heart of India's tech and startup ecosystem. Welcome to our weekly Indian startup news show. I'm Caleb Fzen, your host, and you're watching Backstage with Millionaires. Before [Music] we jump in, this channel is part of the 01 network by Zerota. [Music] Okay, now getting back to our story. The

0:45 labor department says that it's simply aligning with central guidelines and points to similar moves in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. and supporters including Garnataka's Chamber of Commerce argue that longer hours could actually help startups and boost output and stay competitive in the fastmoving global market. And some even say that the younger workforce today is better equipped to handle this kind of grind. And this line of thought pretty much echoes what Infosys's co-founder Narin Morti said a couple of years ago that more hours might mean more productivity. And now Garaka seems ready to actually test this idea on the ground. But not everybody is on board. Worker unions are calling this plan unconstitutional. Matri Krishnan from the AllIndia Central Council of Trade Unions warns that copying labor policies

1:32 from states known for poor working conditions like Uttar Pradesh and Jatisgard could trigger an exodus of talent. And her concern is that Bengalu despite being India's startup capital could end up losing its edge if employees feel overworked and undervalued. It's still just a proposal for now, but if passed, it could reshape how Karnataka's tech hubs function and how attractive they are to talent. And with so many workers already stuck in traffic for hours every single day, the real question is, will this push them to look for better work life balance elsewhere? All right, next up in the news, on June 16th, Ola, Uber, and Rapido were all forced to suspend their bike taxi services in Karnataka. And this came after the state's high court officially banned such services, citing the absence of a proper regulatory

2:18 framework. But that didn't stop the platforms from getting a little bit creative. If you had opened Rapido or Uber's apps on the same day, you wouldn't have seen the usual bike ride option. Instead, Uber had something called Moto Courier, while Rapido introduced a bike parcel service. And that's where things got a little bit messy. It didn't take long for users to figure out the loophole. And the trick here was book yourself as a parcel and then hop on the bike and ride it to your destination. It's classic Indian jug, right? Uh while some users on X found the workaround hilarious and innovative, others were outraged. One politician slammed the move, saying citizens are now being reduced to mere parcels in this legal evasion and called it not innovation but contempt of court. And

3:04 the workaround didn't last for very long as the hack gained attention. And some users reported that both services quietly removed these options from their apps. And there's a good reason why. They were staring down the barrel of legal trouble. And authorities have already seized more than 100 bikes statewide. And operators risk facing fines, vehicle confiscations, and even criminal prosecution. But the issue goes beyond legality. It's also about economics. Rapido, which controls 70% of India's bike taxi market, recently crossed 1,000 cr rupees in revenue. While Ola and Uber were also inching closer to profitability, but now with Garnetaga, one of their biggest markets offlimits, those gains are at risk. And for gig workers too, the consequences are even more severe. Nearly one and a

3:50 half lakh drivers could lose their livelihoods. And worker unions have already appealed to the state government for sustainable solutions here. While tech bodies like are urging immediate regulatory clarity. Auto rickshaw unions however of course have welcomed the ban seeing bike taxis as unfair competition. All right next up in the news global bees which is kind of like the Indian version of thrascio is now facing an insolveny petition. The case was being filed by Ashotoskar, Partoskar and Mangju Agarwal who claimed that they are owed nearly 65 cr rupees plus interest and the dispute dates back to 2021 when global bees acquired a 74% stake in a company called Kubber which these three were directors of. Now, if you're wondering what an insolveny petition

4:36 actually is, it's a formal request to the court saying, "This company can't pay us back. And if the court agrees, it can freeze the company's assets, appoint someone to manage its operations, and even sell off assets to settle debts." And this is exactly what happened with Baiju when unpaid dues triggered a domino effect that led to the company's collapse. And so now BrainB, the parent company of FirstCry and majority owner of Global Bees, says that they're taking legal advice and plan to challenge the petition. But all of this comes at a pretty tough time for the company. Global Bees has seen a wave of top level exits. Their CEO, their chief business officer, and several senior leaders have all quit the company, and even investorbacked board members from Lightseed and PremG Invest have stepped down. All right, next up in the news,

5:22 Razer Pay, one of India's biggest payment companies, just invested $30 million into a two-year-old startup called POP. So, why do they do that? Well, POP might just seem like another UPI payment app, but there's kind of a little bit of a twist. Every time you use POP to pay somebody, you earn points called POP coins. And these coins can be exchanged for discounts and freebies from popular online brands. And if this sounds familiar, it's because that's exactly what Cred did. But instead of rewarding credit card payments, POP rewards everyday UPI transactions. And this strategy is clearly working for them. In just 2 years, POP has quickly grown into India's 21st largest UPI app, handling over 13 million transactions last month alone. But again, why is Razer Pay so interested in this company?

6:08 Well, here's the thing. Payments alone aren't enough anymore. Businesses today need ways to keep customers coming back. And loyalty programs like Popcoins are perfect for that. And so with this investment, Razer Pay isn't just handling payments anymore. They're helping online brands build lasting relationships with customers, boosting loyalty and sales along the way. All right, now let's move into some quick news items here, but I did something a little bit different this week. I just went on X and I asked this question to all of you, and I got a couple of good replies. Now, I wish that I could cover all of the amazing things that everybody is building, but I will try to cover at least a couple here. So, the first one I want to talk about here is Shirou. It's kind of like your personal AI coding agent that can look at your code, find mistakes, and fix them for you. And it can also add new parts to your code if

6:55 you ask it to. And all you need to do is tell Shirou what you want, and it'll make the changes in your coding workspace and then show you the updates so you can check them for yourself. And the guy behind Shurro is Div. And you might remember him from the video that I posted just a week ago where I actually visited the local host Bengaloo house. Um so now we'll we'll move on to the next one here. Uh we have this website called does your idea exist and it was created by Krishna. Uh it uses rag that's retrieval augmented generation to validate business ideas by comparing them against a database of 500,000 startups offering a free service. So if you have an idea that you think is unique, you can simply go on this website and check it for yourself. And then finally, we have Alfina Health. It was created by Tanvi Agaral. And Alfina

7:41 Health is this client therapist matching service. It basically helps you to find the right therapist. Tanvi says that they don't just ask a few questions. Alfina takes a deeper look at who you are, your thoughts, your feelings, and what you need using over 40 different variables. All right, now let's move to the funding news segment for today's video. This week, Indian startups raised a total of $108 million, which is lower than last week's $132 million. It's also below the trend line. But let's take a look at some of the companies that raised funds this week. And the first one I want to talk about here is New Delhi based Wyom, which gives people cheap unlimited internet at home, especially in middle and lower income areas. And instead of laying expensive cables like traditional broadband companies, Wyom uses existing public Wi-Fi infrastructure to deliver internet through local hotspots. and they've

8:28 raised $35 million. And then following that, we have Pune based CLR Facility Services, which is an integrated facility management company. They handle everything from cleaning and maintenance to engineering, airport services, and floor care, especially running the back end of big buildings like malls, hospitals, data centers, and offices. And they've raised $15 million. And then after that, we have a Bengalur based EV startup called Obin Electric, which is making electric motorcycles for the Indian market. and they've raised $6 million in their extended series A round, closing their series A at $12 million in total funding. Next, we have Guruggram based Darwick's AI, which is a gen AI startup that helps enterprises analyze, assist, and automate sales and customer service conversations across voice, chat, email, and in-person

9:14 channels. And they've raised $1.5 million in their seed round. And then finally, we have a Mumbai based startup called Seven. And they built this ring called Seven Ring, which is basically a smart ring that lets you pay just by tapping your hand. No phone, no card, no pins, just a quick tap on the payment machine and you're done. And it doesn't even need charging because it runs on NFC technology. The Ring links to a prepaid wallet. So you load money into it and then spend it directly from there. And they raised 4 cr rupees. That's about $460,000 in their pre- series A round. All right, that is all the Indian startup news that I have for you all this week. I'm Caleb Fzen and this has been Backstage with Millionaires. And just one little thought before I go. I'm thinking maybe every single week I'll post one of these

10:01 posts on X where people can chime in and let me know what they're building. I'll probably post it maybe on Thursday morning. Uh let's say I'm not sure. I can't I'm not going to commit to anything. But uh do tune in on my X. Just head over there if you want to share what you're building if it was built in the last one week. All right. Thank you so much for watching and I'll catch you in the next