Pay to queue up: Online service lets you hire errand boy for ATM duty

Tired of standing in long queues outside banks and ATMs?

A Delhi-based online service, “Book My Chotu”, offering general helpers for household purposes on an hourly basis is here to your rescue! 

The solution is simple: You hire a ‘chotu’, meaning errand boy, to hold your place in the queue and quickly swap before your turn. This makes it a hassle-free process without you sharing your card or bank information with someone else. 

“It started when my mother was ill and I needed immediately needed cash,” said founder and CEO, Satjeet Singh Bedi. “I requested my teammates to stand in the queue in place of me and quickly replaced them when my turn came.”

With long and tiring queues on an everyday basis since the announcement of demonetisation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this is a constant source of trouble for the common man.

Since the online service introduced this advertisement, it has received “positive curiosity and attraction”, says Bedi. The idea was thought of as an “employment generator” providing ”help for people” with busy schedules.

When asked whether other people standing in queues object to this last minute substitution process, the founder said, “This is already a common practice amongst family members and we insist that you treat ‘chotus’ with respect”.

A screenshot of Book My Chotu’s website of the service charges and packages.

The Book My Chotu website explains the service in three simple steps: Log onto the website, enter the required information and wait for your ‘chotu’ to arrive.

A screenshot of Book My Chotu’s website.

Their official website also has a disclaimer stating that ‘Chotu’ is just a name for branding purposes. All employees are above the age of 18 and they have no objection with this name.

“We thought of this as an opportunity to support the government in its fight against corruption and help our customers at the same time,” said Bedi.

First Published: Nov 22, 2016 14:43 IST