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As the lockdown eases and people get back to work, transport has been a major problem for workers in Kathmandu who don’t have private vehicles. At this time, the services of a few ride-sharing apps which had made commute easy in Kathmandu are being missed.

Sunny Mahat of APEX talked to Asheem Man Singh Basnyat, Regional Director of Pathao, on the plans and possibilities of ride-sharing apps during and after the Covid-19 crisis.

How was Pathao doing before the lockdown?

We had 50,000 riders before the lockdown, and one million service users. We were doing around 30,000 rides a day at an average of Rs 105 a ride.

Do you think the government will use this pandemic as an excuse to ban ride-sharing companies once and for all?

The government, the public sector, and the private sector are three pillars for national development. In times like these, cooperation between these sectors is important. As most policy issues have been addressed, we don’t think this pandemic will be an excuse to ban ride-sharing.

How safe would ride-sharing bikes be compared to other means of public transport when we need to maintain social distancing?

We have equipped our riders with protective gears, masks, sanitizers, and we are also disinfecting our vehicles. There are many contact points in public vehicles, which make it difficult to stop the spread of the virus, unlike the bikes that do not have many contact points. So everyone can be certain of the safety level of ride-sharing vehicles, which are more reliable than other means. Further, contact tracing is much easier with ride-sharing platforms. So infected cases, if any, can be tracked early.

What will be the ‘new normal’ for ride-sharing services after the pandemic?

Safety is definitely the new buzzword and it is indeed essential for us as a responsible company. Thus ride-sharing services will be more cautious and serious about safety. Measures like mandatory wearing of masks, equipping riders with sanitizers, and disinfecting our vehicles are likely to stay here for long. Further, as we step out of this pandemic, there is likely to be more demand considering that ride-sharing platforms are a lot safer than other platforms. We are even thinking of sealed cabins to minimize contact between the passenger and riders in cabs.

Do you believe ride-sharing services can find the same or similar level of business when things get back to normal? 

On one side, people might purchase more private vehicles, reducing demand. However, while the economy is sliding and people are losing jobs, they might find ride-sharing a better option to buying vehicles. On this note, we believe ride-sharing will be even more popular once things get back to normal. There is a speculation that public vehicles will not be able to operate the way they had been before the pandemic. If so, the price of public transport will be almost equal to ride-sharing. And given that ride-sharing is much safer with precautions, we expect an increase in business. 

Developing Nepal as a ‘bridge’ between two Asian giants was a promising proposal. The China-India-Nepal trilateral cooperation idea sparked hope that the country of 30 million would prosper side by side with its two neighbors. The two would complement each other in developing critical connectivity infrastructure to turn Nepal not just into a transport corridor but also an urbanizing economic conduit. That boundless potential of Nepal is being eroded by the ruling party’s disoriented foreign policy.

India was never interested in the trilateral idea that could possibly end its hegemony in Nepal. Against this backdrop, rather than trying to keep convincing India to get more interested in the idea, Nepal constantly pushed the southern neighbor away.

Egged on by our own government, China is now interested in all Nepali sectors, from hydropower to military. The military cooperation has not amounted to much except adding India’s suspicion of the trilateral idea—to Nepal’s great loss.  

Nepal cannot prosper without a healthy and balanced relationship with both its neighbors. However, India remains a destination of choice for those unfortunate Nepalis who can’t dream of going to Middle East by paying huge sums to state-sponsored ‘man-power’ companies.

India’s public health institutions such as the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and the Christian Medical College in Vellore still lure Nepalis who cannot get good treatment in their own country whose health sector has been captured by the mafia. Kathmandu’s failure to take New Delhi into confidence could cost those poor Nepali people who rely on India to meet their vital needs like healthcare.

Nepal’s relationship with China is no cushion for poor Nepali people. China only serves the interests of its elite. Moreover, Beijing looks at Nepal from the Tibetan lens. A security-centric approach does Nepal no good at a time it needs unconditional foreign direct investment.

China’s Communist Party (CPC) is enthusiastic about distributing Mao’s red books in Nepal but struggles to define what the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) means for Nepal. Chinese diplomats in Kathmandu openly threaten our constitutionally guaranteed press freedom. Yet they don’t seem to understand the urgent need of the Nepali people to become economically empowered so that they won’t have to wash dishes in the dhabas dotting Indian highways.

Around three million Nepalis work in India to secure two daily meals for their families back home. Nepali unskilled laborers have an open access to India’s vast markets. As India is becoming more competitive and professional, Nepal can benefit more and more from this relationship. Suppose India is tomorrow a global economic superpower and Nepal still has an open border with it—what great opportunities such a scenario bring! But for that Kathmandu has to tame its anti-India ultra-nationalism.

If the future is Asian, as Parag Khanna claims, it is as much of India as it is of China. Nepal can benefit a lot from a balanced foreign policy by pursuing trilateral cooperation rather than stand-alone relationship with neighbors. Even if this is not possible, the goal should be to carefully balance India and China, and surely not to completely throw our lot with the Middle Kingdom.

Please do not destabilize the country with a flawed foreign policy approach at the cost of the poor. India’s treatment of Nepal as just another country may have no implications for Kathmandu’s power elites but will result in devastating consequences for poor Nepalis who can’t ever think of working in Beijing’s restaurants, even as dishwashers.

Have saleable skills? Want to be a self-employed? Or are you looking for a particular household service? You may then want to create an account with SeWahh. This one-of-its-kind Nepali platform brings service providers and seekers together for a variety of everyday household needs. This is unlike the e-commerce platforms in Nepal that have mostly focused on selling products.

SeWahh calls itself a ‘full-service digital marketplace for personalized local services’ to households and businesses across Nepal. Here you will find services ranging from home cleaning and on-site fridge repair to home salon to personal fitness training.

The portal, started a year ago by Subidha Sewa Group, has been providing recruiting, outsourcing, facility management, and personalized local services, for the past 16 years.

 What’s on offer?

Some essential indoor services include: plumbing, computer repair and maintenance, electrician, microwave repair, washing machine repair, and A/C repair. There are unique offerings like astrology and bridal make-up as well. Under home cleaning, there is deep kitchen cleaning, Nepali carpet cleaning, and whole apartment cleaning.

“SeWahh professionals use only tested and verified chemicals,” claims Ajay Raj Joshi, CEO. 

“We specialize in repairing and maintenance services. Perhaps due to our 30-day post-service guarantee and insurance, our client base is increasing,” Joshi says. “We also aim to create jobs.”

The guarantee means, if a client feels the service is below par, they will get a free 30-day service. And if items are damaged due to mishandling, there is insurance cover of up to Rs 20,000. 

With the start of the lockdown, SeWahh started different kinds of online classes and trainings as well, including academic tuitions for school and college students, art and painting classes, music lessons, and yoga and gym sessions.

Bidhata Upreti, a dental surgeon by profession, is happy with the music class she has been taking through SeWahh. “The classes are interactive and helpful,” she says on the SeWahh Facebook page. 

These classes offer one-on-one sessions, barring home tuitions where a group may have up to four students. Students from class 1-12 and A-levels can enroll for these home tuition classes. “It is for the students who need extra training besides their regular school or college classes,” adds Joshi.

SeWahh conducts interactive parent-teacher meets. These half-hour once-a-month meets help both parents and teachers know about the student’s progress and needs, claims Joshi. Moreover, there are separate evaluations for each student.

How it works

SeWahh runs a website and a Facebook page. Clients can visit the website, select the service, register, login, and purchase by choosing time and date. After confirming with the clients, SeWahh employees contact registered service professionals nearby. After completion of the job, they contact the clients again to ensure satisfactory job completion. Those with no Internet access may call and place an order. 

For online classes and training, students and trainees choose the time and courses, as well as from the available teachers or trainers. Multiple platforms are used for online classes, as per the convenience of students and teachers, with Zoom and Google Meet the most popular ones. 

 Interested professionals create an account with SeWahh and go through a selection process before being hired. “We only hire professionals with a minimum 2-3 year experience,” Joshi says. The company has a group of consultants to test the qualifications of job aspirants. This helps maintain service quality and to cut down on flaws, Joshi adds.  The professionals also get skill development training from time to time. 

Clients can pay through eSewa or bank transfer. Or they may pay the service provider directly with cash upon the completion of the task. SeWahh charges a certain amount from the professionals as per a prior agreement for using the platform.  

After encouraging response from its clients, SeWahh is planning to add home massage and saloon for males.

The lockdown has prompted many to turn to online services. But e-commerce is still nascent in Nepal, and the road ahead unclear. Many areas of Nepal are still devoid of reliable Internet. Nor is the government supporting e-commerce. “It has no plan to help us,” Joshi rues.

The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), the apex regulatory body for the country’s capital market, just celebrated its 28th anniversary via a webinar. But as it did so, the country’s capital market suffers from weak regulatory capacity, lack of institutional ability to effectively monitor the market, and inadequate market infrastructures. When the world is abuzz with the mantra of digital departure, the SEBON collects market information manually and gives outdated data to concerned investors.     

Addressing the virtual event, Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada expressed his optimism that Nepal would soon have a robust capital market to meet the country’s huge financing needs. He shared his hope that Nepal’s capital market would become more and more competitive in South Asia, so that investors start diverting their investment here from other countries. But that seems like wishful thinking, given the paucity of homework towards that end. 

Despite repeated assurances to advance the capital market, the government has not let the SEBON be operationally independent. Although it is an independent agency, it is often not able to pursue its mandate independently. A SEBON official stated in a recent roundtable organized by Milken Institute in Kathmandu that the SEBON was being forced to function as an extension of the Ministry of Finance. 

Nepal’s capital market is so weak that it can mobilize precious little funds for long-term investment. That leaves the country vulnerable to deficit of finance to develop large infrastructure projects. The onus is on the ministry to enable the SEBON to independently carry out its activities and to work toward making the capital market more robust. However, there is also a need to reform the ownership and governance of the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) in order to improve the country’s capital market, and eventually make it lucrative for investors from South Asia. 

Capital market’s efficiency also depends on investors having access to high-quality information on government debt structures, funding needs, and debt management strategy. One such basic practice is disseminating issuance calendar for government securities. Unfortunately, the calendar has become a victim of weak institutional coordination and communication. 

Nepal can learn from India’s well-developed system of information dissemination on government securities. Far from having high-quality public dashboards displaying critical information for investors, the SEBON does not even have a basic Information Management System (MIS) to collect, process, and analyze market data. This leaves it vulnerable to the manipulation of shady investors. 

When there was an upsurge in the secondary market a couple of months ago on the back of the news of the exit of Finance Minister Khatiwada, the SEBON was relying on un-vetted data to make the market cheer up. One did not know if these data sources were reliable, but they did play a vital role in decision-making. The absence of real-time market data and analysis for investors has time and again proved costly. 

Unfortunately, neither does the SEBON have funds to buy such a system nor can it work independently to secure such funds from development partners, as the ministry always comes in between. And that is hardly helpful. 

 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which is just a year older than the SEBON, was established in 1992. Today the SEBI regulates one of the most vibrant capital markets in Asia, and mobilizes much-needed funds for India’s growing economy. If Khatiwada is honest about his commitment to improving the state of Nepal’s capital market, he should learn from his Indian counterpart and let the SEBON operate independently—away from the ministry’s revenue- and rent-seeking mindset.  

Nepal’s financial markets rank as the least developed in South Asia. They cannot be competitive without strengthening the SEBON’s regulatory capacity, changing ownership and governance mechanism of the NEPSE, and developing critical market infrastructures. A couple of lines in the budget speech to advance the capital market without a clear roadmap will not be enough. 

Khatiwada, who can now perk up the market only with news of his exit, has a great opportunity to clean up his investor-unfriendly image by letting the capital market proper unhindered.