![]() While British colonisers saw a natural justice in the random orderliness of first come, first served, decades of bureaucratic inefficiency in post-independence, socialist India fostered a love for innovative rule-bending. Jugaad implies that following the rulebook too rigidly is the act of a fool. Gonzalves’s view is surprisingly common in India, where paying for a line-sitter is being hailed as a form of jugaad, an Indian concept meaning creative corner-cutting. If our bosses come, the country will stop working. Rich men are not going to come and stand here. “I’m not going to get paid if my boss doesn’t have money to pay me. “What’s wrong with sending someone in your place?” she asks. In the Churchgate bank queue, Teresa Gonzalves says the country would grind to a halt if rich businessmen stopped working to stand in queues. But most of the better-off have left the queueing to others.Īctor Ravi Babu queues outside an ATM in Hyderabad with a piglet. Some of India’s elite, such as the film star Ravi Babu, who queued for 15 minutes at a cash machine in Hyderabad holding a live piglet, have joined the crowds themselves. ![]() If you support Modi’s decision, you should show your support by coming here and standing in the queues with the rest of us.” Prathamesh Shroff, who has come to withdraw 12,000 rupees, says: “Everyone should do their own work. ![]() Some of those who have waited for two hours outside the bank near Churchgate argue that sending someone to hold your place in a queue is unethical and unfair to those who have no choice but to come themselves. The proxies wait until they are close to the head of the queue then call their temporary employer, who makes the transaction.īut the cash-for-queueing business is controversial. ![]() Tech startups such as BookM圜hotu and DoneThing have also swooped in to capitalise on the queueing crisis, offering “helpers” who will hold your place in a bank queue for 90-150 rupees (£1-£1.75) an hour. Some people send their employees to hold their place, while others hire workers paid by the day to do the job. Modi’s money crunch has prompted an unexpected boom in the queue-sitting business, where people are paid to stand in line. "I requested my teammates to stand in the queue in place of me and quickly replaced them when my turn came.“Obviously I don’t like coming and standing in line for two hours in the sun,” Garg says. "It started when my mother was ill and I immediately needed cash," Bedi told the Hindustan Times newspaper. Since BookM圜hotu, which is only available in Delhi and neighbouring cities, started its latest ad campaign, the company has received positive and curious responses, said founder and CEO Satjeet Singh Bedi. The surprise decision is part of the government's assault on "Black money"-undeclared, unaccounted cash-and aims to bring more money into the formal banking system and ultimately boost the economy.īut it has caused a rush on the banks, while shortages of new notes and problems recalibrating ATMs to fit the new bills have seen hours-long queues form outside banks nationwide. Indians have until the end of the year to exchange their old 500 and 1,000 notes-85 percent of the cash in circulation-for the new 500 and 2,000 rupee bills, or deposit them into accounts. "Our boys will not go inside bank, they will just stand in the queue for our customers as we understand that there can be some emergency and our helpers can help you by saving your valuable time."Ī "chotu" costs 90 rupees ($1.30) per hour-or 550 rupees for waiting for a maximum of eight hours.Īll are well trained and over the age of 18, the company assured prospective customers on its Facebook page. "Are you short of cash? Need a Helper to stand in queue of the bank/atm till the time your turn comes?", reads an ad on the company's Facebook page. The company, originally launched as an online platform to help people hire temporary helpers, is now cashing in on the cash crunch. But a New Delhi-based startup has a solution for those willing to pay someone to stand in line: BookM圜hotu-a play on the Hindi word "chotu" meaning "little one".
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