Tech for tech’s sake sucks
Ola over-promised and under-delivered in Punjab
High tech apps over promise and under deliver, as they do not focus on the needs and behaviour of the users. Agri-tech startups had raised more than INR 200 crore in FY19.
Ola had offered an app to help farmers with crop procurement. App could notify farmers about their turn and the status of collection centres. Punjab Government stopped using the app, as farmers were not adept at using apps. Also, there are few farmers, who have smart-phones. The government went back to using the legacy system, involving the paper tokens.
Rachna Khaira writes, “Yet, Ola’s failed attempt to help Punjab with procurement reveals the limits of the over-promise, under-deliver dictum of many tech companies.”
Investors have poured about INR 2000 cr in agritech startups. Yet, technology isn’t solving the problems during the crisis. Developing local ecosystems, comprising of farmers, agents and buyers will require moving away from at scale centralised systems such as Ola. Nobody asks what the consumer really wants.
