Highlights:
- RIL launches Chatbot on WhatsApp for rights issue queries
- RIL has a massive Rs. 53,125 crore right issue to be executed amid the lockdown
Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has a massive Rs. 53,125 crore right issues to be executed amid the nationwide lockdown and for that, it has turned to the world’s most used messaging application, WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook. RIL will take the help of WhatsApp to answer queries of its 2.6 million (26 lakh) shareholders on the offering.
Since last week, when the rights issue opened for Subscription (20th May), Reliance Industries has put in action a chatbot on WhatsApp which is helping its shareholders with their queries.
A person advising on the RIL rights issue said, “Generally for a public offering of this size with so many shareholders one would need a vast infrastructure of call centre executives to answer shareholder queries.
But with the lockdown it would have been difficult to manage sufficient call centre service and hence it was decided to come up with this chatbot where shareholders can go and resolve majority of their queries without requiring any human intervention,” however the person asked to retain anonymity.
While the chatbot has been put in place to resolve the queries of shareholders, the company has also engaged the services of some call-centres, the person adds.
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The chatbot will help the shareholders with an exhaustive list of queries which will range from important dates, queries on how to trade their rights entitlement, queries on how many rights entitlement a shareholder will be eligible for, and what to do if someone has physical shares and sample forms.
The chatbot will not just be all text, it will also offer shareholders with the link to some video tutorials to the shareholders who would find the video content an easier way than navigating through multiple menus to look for their answers.
RIL’s WhatsApp chatbot has seen strong traction with its shareholders. Facebook owned messaging app, WhatsApp, has over 400 million (40 crore) users in India.
A person with knowledge of the company’s right issue strategy said, “Since most people in India are on WhatsApp, it was suggested to use WhatsApp to communicate with shareholders. And we are seeing good use of the chatbot.
RIL has over 2.6 million shareholders and so a lot of queries are coming on the chatbot everyday. People are finding it a very convenient option to gain access to information they need on the rights issue. Most of their queries can be resolved on the bot,”.
So far the RIL rights issue, the biggest in India’s history, has seen a subscription of a little over 3% as of Tuesday. The rights offering will close for subscription on the 3rd of June 2020.
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