PROVIDING THE OFFLINE PAYMENT SOLUTION TO THE INDIAN NAVY!

There is an old saying which, in translation, means, if you have the idea and the readiness to strive for it, the almighty has the will to make it happen. Here is a real life story on how techno-preneur Abhijeet Daigavane has helped transform the lives of Indian naval sailors and naval officers onboard a giant naval ship, the INS Vikramaditya.

It was his wife’s birthday in 2020. That was the period when Abhijeet Daigavane was busy working on innovations in offline payment. Abhijeet, a  Maharashtra based, 29 years old  TV actor, engineer and an entrepreneur,  received an email on the info account of his company, Atom O’Sphere. He somehow didn’t notice the mail.

Four days later, he got a call. The caller identified  himself as a Lt. Commander from the Indian Navy. Abhijeet thought it must be a fraud call for some phishing activity. Rather, he felt pretty sure that the caller must be some imposter. But then things turned more interesting. The person on the other side appeared more interested in his offline payment concept. Abhijeet felt a little taken aback. he recalls, – I referred my website to him.  He replied that he had already gone through each and every point there.

Whoever the caller was.. He had done his homework !

Thinking that there was no harm in sharing the knowledge with a stranger,

Abhijeet started disclosing the insights and techniques. Though, sooner he stopped himself upon realising, that things had begun moving far too much in details. It was then that the caller who had identified himself as Lt. Commander Karthik sought to gain his confidence and stated that this technology was under consideration for deployment across the Indian Naval Ship Vikramaditya. This was something too much for the young entrepreneur. In Abhijeet’s own words, -I was completely shocked and thought that it was getting way too big to be true!!

The series of calls had just begun. After ten days of brainstorming telephonic talks,  Abhijeet Daigavane was given an invite to Indian Navy’s  INS Vikramaditya, Karwar. This, he thought, was the time when finally he was going to check it out to know if it all was real.

He recalls, -I consulted my partner-mentor-COO of Atom O’Sphere Capt. Raj about it. He suggested to go there together to check out as the only worse situation possible would be us roaming and having a quick trip to goa and there’s nothing to lose in taking the chance. In any case. there was no point in rejecting a trip to Karwar via Goa. There was nothing to disagree with.

So, we went there. And, on twelfth december, there at the entrance gate we got escorted by the Indian naval men, yes, the real ones. Soon after passing through three layers of tight security, we saw the mammoth of the India Navy. INS Vikramaditya. It was real! So, it actually had turned out to be real. We were dealing with the real naval officials and it was immensely satisfying to find that  I was getting an opportunity to deploy my idea, the systemic solution for offline payments, there!  Lt. Commander Karthik had identified himself at the very beginning itself. He had also revealed that he’s from Indian Navy. But it seemed too good to be believed.  What later intrigued me more, simultaneously boosted my morale and confidence too, was the fact that he had disclosed about INS Vikramaditya to be the place of deployment. And all that was happening finally.

Then came the actual issue of funding the project, wherein Vasu sir referred us to SBI. He shared our solution with SBI, who in turn  invited us to their HQ in Mumbai and sought to know about our solution. They tried their existing vendors but no one seemed to be ready or keen about  the required capability.  Ultimately, we made our entry.

Abhijeet adds, -It is deeply satisfying to witness that our idea is now helping the sailors and the officers on board INS Vikramaditya to purchase things using their offline cards. The connectivity issues nomore hound their daily activities.  The transactions are happening seamlessly without any internet and all the vendors are happily collecting their bills sans any fear of missing the cash during the voyage. The HOD of the vessel is also happy as the stress and load of maintaining the cash has been eliminated. Eventually this idea of offline payment solution appears set to spread across various locations having connectivity issues.

When asked if he finds a lot more openness and willingness to embrace newer technology in the present day Indian armed forces than before, he quickly replies in affirmation,- Was there any chance for an individual like me or a small company like mine to stand tall with SBI having Indian Navy as the client where INS Vikramaditya is the site! It is unbelievable even today for us. The world is changing and so are our armed forces. People there too, are encouraging the youth and the talent, to serve the nation !