Express News Service
Contrary to the economic slow-down in Covid, Delhi-based doorstep diesel delivery start-up Humsafar witnessed its biggest growth phase by adding Shapoorji, Afcons India, KMV Projects Pvt Ltd, to its list of existing clients L&T, Ferns and Petals, and more.
Part of this change in fortune can be attributable to Humsafar’s decision of resorting to technology to allow people to place an order using app Fuel Humsafar. “The fuel is delivered within 24 hours of order placement. During Covid, we had even waived off the minimum order clause,” shares Agarwal, whose focus is more on customer satisfaction than competition.
Humsafar delivers fuel in a geo-fenced bowser that is not an ordinary vehicle, but a fuel protector. “There is no leakage in transit, and the operations are app driven. Once the bowser reaches the buyer’s facility, the buyer uses the app to make requests for fuel and receives an OTP. When the OTP is entered, then only the bowser opens and dispenses the fuel. “Thus, there is no chance of pilferage and wastage, the way it used to happen traditionally,” shares Co-founder Mayank Agarwal, adding that their service helps in reducing the traffic congestion and related expenses.
“We only cater to static equipment and heavy machinery used for road projects, colleges, schools, banquet halls, residential societies, and cineplexes, as of now because Petroleum Rules and PESO only permit diesel as petrol is more inflammable.” Along with Sanya Goel and Dilpreet Sadana, Agarwal setup Samridhi Highway Solutions in 2016 and with Humsafar, the trio began their tech-enabled journey into the future. Between them, they own five petrol pumps – two in Delhi and three in Haryana.However, Agarwal is the most steeped into the fuel retail business as his family has been in it for 75 years.
After completing his Bachelors in Business Economics from DU and MBA in finance and minors in marketing from ICFAI, Gurugram, Agarwal worked with Glaxo SmithKline on financial research. “I joined the family business in 2012 that was more about managing petrol pumps. In two years, I learnt its traditional ways of working, but also realised that we had not focused on the customer service and satisfaction,” adds Agarwal, back then 23, and rectified this issue after starting Humsafar.
“Credit card customers had direct contact with the company, but there was no information on how the cash customers felt about our services. So, we developed software and incentivised cash customers by making a loyalty card. If they could not revisit us, we gave them a call, checked about their concerns related to staff behaviour, and solved them, so that we could keep them with us. And it was a success.”
In 2019, the government issued guidelines on authorising diesel door delivery, which Humsafar was waiting for and they jumped in. What started with a loyalty programme, became app-based in 2019. “And last year, we even started marketing the Humsafar brand of diesel bowsers, which are the mobile petrol pumps,” adds Agarwal.
Future Plans
“Going forward, we are keen to be a start-up entrenched in technology. Having supplied close to 300 bowsers in the past one year, with plans to fabricate 750 bowsers in the fiscal 2021-22, we are strengthening our engineering services and setting up regional service centres. We are the first start-up in the sector to set up a ‘Customer Satisfaction’ wing,” he adds. They are also looking at jerry cans business to cater to customers requiring 20-40 litres diesel for home gensets, etc.
Is Humsafar making any amendments to their workings now with the government taking a keen interest in electric vehicles? “This transition is a long-drawn process. It will be decades before the majority of all vehicles and machinery stop using diesel as the primary fuel. In the foreseeable future, the app-driven mobile bowsers will play a key role in fuel delivery, and the government can use the space of the existing petrol pumps as charging stations,” he concludes.
Side Trivia
Humsafar only caters to static equipment and heavy machinery used for road projects, colleges, schools, banquet halls, residential societies, and cineplexes, because Petroleum Rules and PESO only permit diesel as petrol is more inflammable
