India’s most popular digital wallets player Paytm has rolled out ‘Food wallet’ in a bid to enter the meal voucher business. Terming it a ‘first-of-its-kind Food Wallet’, Paytm says will help companies pass of food allowance to employees under the government-approved tax redemption bracket. On the other hand, this gives corporate employees tax saving opportunities.
This move makes it a direct competitor to Sodexo with the major difference being that the Food Wallet will be digital.
Paytm’s Food Wallet comes with an interface where employees can see a real-time balance in the passbook and can find the closest food outlets using the ‘nearby’ feature on the app.
The company says that this wallet can be used at office cafeterias and at a wide range of online and physical merchants including small standalone outlets. The list includes KFC, Burger King, Zomato, Pizza Hut, Café Coffee Day and Big Bazaar among others.
Paytm will also be offering added benefits like exclusive deals, discounts and cashback.
Food Wallet lets employers can instantly transfer money to the Food Wallets of employees anywhere across the country. This solution is already live at some corporate offices. This gives it an upper hand over Sodexo.
Kiran Vasireddy, senior vice president at Paytm claims that the Paytm food wallet will revolutionize the traditional meal voucher space. “It will benefit all stakeholders – employers, employees and food retailers. Corporate employees can now pay for their food and beverages using their mobile on the go and keep a track of all payments made on the app. This will offer great convenience when compared to the traditional instruments like paper vouchers and will have tax benefits too,” he adds.
Paytm says that India’s Rs 25,000Cr tax-free allowance market sees 12 million salary returns filed every year. With the Food Wallet, Paytm aims to target the six million employees who struggle to file their food voucher claims every year.