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Mobile net suspension in Punjab: Businesses hit; life comes to a halt as online services hit
There was barely any food delivery valet in sight on late Saturday and Sunday, quite contrary to the usual weekend scenes where several of them can be easily spotted making their way on busy city roads
Online payments, food delivery and cab services were largely hit in the city due to the suspension of mobile internet services in Punjab, with people making a beeline for long-forgotten ATMs to take out cash to pay bills for something even as small as a meal.
There was barely any food delivery valet in sight on late Saturday and Sunday, quite contrary to the usual weekend scenes where several of them can be easily spotted making their way on busy city roads.
“I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and didn’t even notice the disappearing network bars until I was unable to refresh the feed. Thinking of it as a network issue I rebooted my phone but in vain. For a brief moment, I thought my sim has crashed. It was only when a customer’s online payment failed, it struck us that something is wrong,” Vandhana Vohra, manager at a garment store, said.
“We turned on the TV to learn that the internet has been suspended throughout the state. If not more, we turned down 10-15 customers as they were void of cash,” she said.
Internet outage had an adverse impact, especially on those who earn their livelihood through food delivery or cab services.
Manager at Dodha Sweets, Rakesh Sharma, said, “We usually receive 50-60 orders via these food delivery apps on a regular basis. Although Wi-Fi services are still active, yet we haven’t received any online orders since Saturday. Several of our customers too left behind their packed parcels, and canceled their order as they were asked to pay in cash.”
Many eateries reported that people had to rush to the nearby ATMs to withdraw cash soon after they had their meal to pay the bill.
Sharing one such anecdote, Rakesh of Café Culture told HT, “People who had already placed their order or were done eating had to line up outside a nearby ATM to square the bill. Nobody keeps much cash these days, especially after Covid. Majority of the customers make payments online. We can only hope for quick internet restoration so that business gets back on track.”
Echoing the same Harjinder Singh Kukreja, owner Hot Breads, Sarabha Nagar, said, “Restaurants wait for weekends because Saturday and Sunday are days when most restaurants do maximum business. Online delivery platforms bring in a significant percentage of our business. Due to the mobile internet suspension, sales have been grossly affected as delivery personnel cannot receive orders. Even essential navigation apps are not working. This is loss for business and food delivery business has been minimal.”
