IT service management company Vakrangee Limited, one of the main providers of the software equipment for voter id cards and Aadhaar cards, said that it has partnered with mass media firm ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL), for the “distribution and subscription” of ZEEL’s video on demand platform ZEE5 for its customers in 3,504 Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras across the country.
The move will help customers pay for their ZEE5 subscriptions via Vakrangee Kendras. ZEE5 has both paid and free subscription plans.
Vakrangee said that through the partnership, it will offer ZEE5 services to the most remote and hitherto unserved and underserved parts of the country.
Vakrangee Kendras, which operates in more than 19 states in India, offer a range of products and services across banking, insurance, ATM, assisted e-Commerce, e-Governance and logistics.
Launched in February 2018, ZEE5 offers content across 12 languages like English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Punjabi.
It is one of the fastest growing OTT platforms in India and home to more than 90 live TV channels.
Most of Vakrangee centers act as last-mile retail points of sale and are located in the rural, semi-urban and urban areas that do not have access to technology and often electricity.
Vakrangee currently has 3,504 Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra’s spread across 19 states, 366 districts and 2,186 postal codes. More than 68% outlets are from Tier 5 and tier 6 cities.
The company said that its target is to reach at least 25,000 operational Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras by FY 2019-20 and further enhance it to reach 45,000 Nextgen outlets by FY 2020-21 and 75,000 by FY 2021-22.
ZEE5, previously known as OZEE, is a video-on-demand website run by Essel Group via its subsidiary Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL).
“With this partnership, we continue to expand the bouquet of services available at our exclusive Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras making them into one stop shop for all the requirements of our customers including entertainment”, said Anil Khanna, Managing Director & Group CEO, Vakrangee Ltd.
“We will continue to add products and services and tie-up with leading business partners to offer our customers a comprehensive solution to all their banking, insurance, ATM, assisted e-Commerce, e-Governance and logistics, all at their doorstep. Vakrangee provides these business partners with the unmatched reach in remote areas where these brands find the cost of operations too high”, he added.
“This offline to online partnership with Vakrangee Kendra helps with both distribution and accessibility, thus getting more people exposed to ZEE5’s premium content. We hope that this first of its kind association in the OTT segment will prove beneficial for the customers as it gives them an easy option of payment”, said Manish Aggarwal, Business Head, ZEE5 India.
Incorporated in 1990, Vakrangee provides banking, insurance, e-governance, e-commerce and logistics services. Headquartered in Mumbai, it is India’s largest network of last-mile retail points of sale.
Along with Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras, the company also operates e-Governance projects with the Government of India.