India’s Jio Haptik Technologies, a provider of WhatsApp chatbot solutions, has partnered with Zoop and Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide food delivery services for train passengers.
The WhatsApp-based self-service food delivery platform will be powered by Haptik’s advanced conversational commerce capabilities and allow passengers to place and receive their orders at their seats with real-time order tracking.
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Approved by IRCTC, ZoopIndia provides food ordering services on Indian trains. Meanwhile, Haptik uses artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies across 20 channels to help brands engage users.
Haptik co-founder and CTO Swapan Rajdev was quoted by TimesNow as saying: “Tens of millions of people travel on trains each day and Haptik, in partnership with Zoop, is helping passengers order their favourite meals and get delivery straight to their seats.”
Passengers will be required to provide their passenger name record (PNR) number to be able to order food from restaurants at planned train stops.
The service is currently available across 250 Indian cities on various intercity train routes.
ZoopIndia founder Puneet Sharma was quoted by Financial Express as saying: “The problem of lack of access to quality food in trains is something we wanted to resolve.
“The WhatsApp chatbot solution, powered by Haptik, is one of the most sophisticated. It is an ideal self-service solution for all railway passengers. We’re excited to see how people respond to this innovation.”
Last month, it was reported that Jubilant FoodWorks, the Indian franchise of Domino’s Pizza, would look to minimise its reliance on food delivery platforms if commission rates were hiked.
