ONDC dangles discount carrot; Tariff woes hit TCS
Also in the letter:
ONDC mulls subsidy comeback to lure food orders
Discount push:
Restaurants eye new routes:
Several have begun working with ONDC-linked platforms.
Others are tying up with Rapido, which is prepping its own low-commission food delivery app, Ownly.
Logistics remain a hurdle:
Also Read:
TCS clocks profit in Q1 despite deal slowdown
Q1 performance:
Revenue: Up 1.3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 63,437 crore, but down 3.1% in constant currency.
Up 1.3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 63,437 crore, but down 3.1% in constant currency. Net profit: Rose 6% to Rs 12,760 crore.
Rose 6% to Rs 12,760 crore. Deal wins: Total contract value stood at $9.4 billion.
Total contract value stood at $9.4 billion. Operating margin: At 24.5%, up 30 basis points (bps) quarter-on-quarter, but down 20 bps YoY.
At 24.5%, up 30 basis points (bps) quarter-on-quarter, but down 20 bps YoY.
Attrition: Rose slightly to 13.8%, from 13.3% in the previous quarter.
Tariff troubles:
Also Read:
Deal? No deal:
CEO speaks:
Also Read:
Tata Elxsi Q1 profit drops as sales take a hit
Q1 performance:
Revenue: Fell 3.7% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 892 crore.
Fell 3.7% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 892 crore. Ebitda: Dropped 26% to Rs 187 crore.
Dropped 26% to Rs 187 crore.
Net profit: Declined 22% YoY to Rs 144 crore.
Outlook:
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How may (A)I help you? Lenders, NBFCs tap agentic AI to serve customers
Driving the news:
Startups like Hyperface, Gnani.ai, and Yellow.ai are building next-gen voice AI agents that don't just respond, but emulate human tones to make conversations feel natural.
These tools go beyond traditional IVR and machine learning-based bots, enabling banks to reduce operational costs by up to 50%.
Early use cases include handling queries around credit cards and basic account services.
Scaling quickly:
Challenges persist:
Keeping Count
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Partners Group eyes Infinity stake:
F&O reins cost stockbrokers users:
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Global Picks We Are Reading
Happy Friday! ONDC incentives are back on the table as food delivery faces a sluggish phase. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ AI banking assistants■ Partners Group goes shopping■ Sebi curbs sting stockbrokersThe Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is planning a fresh subsidy push to woo food delivery customers, just months after pulling the plug on earlier incentives. The government-backed network is looking to earmark Rs 100-150 crore for the initiative, sources told us.If cleared, the subsidy will allow platforms such as Magicpin, Paytm, Ola Consumer, and Waayu to offer deeper discounts to users. The incentives are likely to be rolled out in phases, according to those familiar with the matter.India's food delivery market is still dominated by Zomato (owned by Eternal) and Swiggy. High commissions have forced many restaurants to explore cheaper alternatives.Analysts reckon that despite the subsidy rethink, ONDC's most significant challenge remains last-mile delivery. Karan Taurani, executive vice president at Elara Capital, said that discounts might spike order volumes in the short run, but won't drive long-term growth unless core operational gaps are fixed.Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a modest profit rise in the June quarter , even as global demand faltered. Executives blamed geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and supply chain disruptions for the sluggish top line.TCS is feeling the heat in the US, its biggest market, where tariffs are hindering IT spending. With artificial intelligence looming as a disruptor, recovery remains elusive. North America revenue fell 2.7%, dragged by delayed decision-making.Other regions didn't fare much better. Europe declined 3.1%, while India saw a 21.7% revenue slump, following the completion of a large BSNL project.'It could be too early to call out when growth will resume,' said CEO K Krithivasan, though he expects better international traction later this fiscal.'Mega deals are always lumpy…we did not have any in FY25. It's very difficult to provide an outlook on mega deals…But we are working on a couple of them,' he added.Tata Elxsi, another Tata Group company, reported a significant drop in first-quarter profit as revenue declined during the period due to macroeconomic pressures.CEO Manoj Raghavan struck a cautious note but said the company expects gradual recovery through the year, with transportation and media units expected to rebound in the September quarter.ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees.Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@timesinternet.in to explore sponsorship opportunities.Banking and non-banking financial firms (NBFCs) are leveraging agentic AI , particularly voice-driven tools, to sharpen their customer service capabilities, from onboarding to query resolution.Bajaj Finance, one of India's biggest lenders, is doubling down. It recently picked up a stake in Protectt.ai, a mobile security startup. Similarly, Aurinpro acquired Arya.ai to expand its AI toolkit for banking clients.India has approximately 44 GenAI startups focused on voice and speech. However, regulatory clarity is lagging. Experts say that the rules governing the use of AI in sensitive areas, such as debt collection, remain unclear, delaying rollouts and raising concerns about consumer protection.Veo 3 on Gemini was first launched at the Google I/O event in April, arriving in India just a week ago. The internet behemoth has now added a photo-to-video feature in the AI video generator. (Source: Google Shrikant Ravalkar, founder, Infinity Fincorp SolutionsSwiss investment giant Partners Group is set to acquire a majority stake in Mumbai-based non-bank lender Infinity Fincorp Solutions for Rs 1,950 crore (approximately $230 million).The total active user base of major Indian stockbroking platforms fell to 29.5 million in June from 30.5 million in February as market regulator Sebi curbed futures and options (F&O) trades and market volatility.A recent report by AI startup accelerator Upekkha highlighted that a price advantage and 20 years of IT services expertise position Indian startups favourably to tap into the vertical AI opportunity.■ Meta is trying to win the AI race with money — but not everyone can be bought ( The Verge ■ Cloning came to polo. Then things got truly uncivilised ( Wired ■ Politics and USAID cuts put a telehealth program on life support ( Rest of World
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