Religare Broking Limited (RBL), the broking arm of Financial Services Group, Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) has seen a whopping 50 percent upswing in trading volumes from online platforms since the nationwide lockdown was imposed for the first time. Trading volumes have shot up, especially on its mobile app Religare Dynami, driven by a significant behavioural shift by traders and investors towards self-execution model, even as the company has ensured near total operational continuity as it moved to 100% work from home mode for client servicing and operations team.
Smart leveraging of relevant technology such as cloud telephony-based solutions for RBL’s dealing and service team, as well as seamless new e-collection mode of payments for customers, who are otherwise used to transferring funds through physical cheques & net banking, have sustained this spike.
‘’We were able to adapt to the situation quite early and ensured that the critical operations were up and running from home, before the lock-down. We ensured that even while we shift to a work-from-home model, business continues with minimal disruption and client needs are addressed in real-time through smart and efficient use of technological solutions. As a result, our online trading platforms, both the web portal and the ‘Dynami’ mobile app have actually seen a spike in number of active customers and transactions during the period of the lock-down,” shared Nitin Aggarwal, CEO, Religare Broking Limited.
The same approach to business continuity has been followed by other subsidiaries of Religare Enterprises Limited, (REL), which has allowed the Group to continue operations without any business disruption.
Dr. Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson, Religare Enterprises Limited, said, “It is an unprecedented situation and the Religare Group stands strong with the entire nation. The safety of our people and customer interest is our topmost priority. We have taken several measures to provide relief to our customers and employees in these testing times. Our operating companies have already implemented business continuity plans to serve our customers seamlessly in these difficult times. As a responsible organisation, REL will be contributing towards the PM CARES Fund as well.”
Religare Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (RHDFC) has also walked the extra mile to support customers, especially where there are cash flow or repayment issues. The company is reaching out to individual customers to assess their needs and address cash flow problems, thus underscoring the significant customer orientation in the company’s operational philosophy.
‘’Given our operational experience and our anticipation of the imminent situation, we moved quickly to devise an alternative operating model to deal with the COVID situation. That model involved not only work from home and support to employees, but also factored in customer centricity and leveraging of technology for business continuity, as a result of which operations continued unabated during these difficult times,’’ explained Rahul Mehrotra, CEO at RHDFCL.
Religare Finvest Limited (RFL), one of the leading SME financing platforms in India, has implemented the moratorium of up to 3 months by default, to all standard customers and is in touch with all customers to keep them informed of changes in their repayment terms. “The company is also working towards implementing automated and digital channels to solve the service related queries and requests in the shortest period of time. In spite of being under the Corrective Action Plan of RBI (CAP), the Company has repaid more than Rs. 6,450 crores to the lenders since January 2018, including a sum of Rs. 837 crores on March 26, 2020, during these difficult times,” stated Pankaj Sharma, President and Head – Corporate Planning & Strategy at RFL. Nitya Kishore Sahu, Group Head, Compliance for Religare Enterprises Limited added, “Apart from submitting information on business operations and related matters to the regulator (RBI) during the Pandemic, we have also sought relief for the NBFC sector. We have maintained the highest standards of Corporate Governance to ensure that the interest of all our stakeholders, especially our customers and employees is taken care of during these difficult times.”
“We are completely operational, without any service disruption, and are servicing all cashless as well as reimbursement claims of our customers through our digital tools. Additionally, we also continue to address all other policy servicing requests and enquiries received by our customer service team- telephonically, over e-mail or through one of our digital interfaces,’’ said Anuj Gulati, MD & CEO at Religare Health Insurance Company Limited.
In fact, the entire Group is preparing for a post-COVID world wherein operating models will move to more digital mediums, enabling remote working opportunities to become the norm rather than the exception, and technology will take the front seat to ensure customer service and internal efficiencies.
