Reliance launches WhatsApp chatbot for 2.6 million shareholders ahead of AGM
Reliance shareholders can activate the chatbot, developed by Jio Haptik, by texting 'hi' on a WhatsApp number. The AGM takes place on July 15.
As gears up for its 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on July 15, the petroleum-to-telecom conglomerate has launched a chatbot for its 2.6 million shareholders, investors, and the general public.
The chatbot has been developed by conversational AI startup Haptik (now known as Jio Haptik), which Reliance had acquired in April 2019 in a Rs 700-crore deal.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani with son and Reliance Jio Director Akash Ambani
Company sources told YourStory,
"The chatbot will act as a 24x7 help desk to answer queries related to RIL AGM. It has been designed to handle a diverse sets of queries from shareholders, other interested stakeholders, and general public from across the country. The chatbot offers a range of information related to RIL AGM in an easy-to-use conversational manner for a speedy and effortless resolution to their queries."
Users can activate the chatbot service by texting “hi” from their WhatsApp to +91 79771 11111. The response time is less than a second, and the AI-led virtual assistant shares a livestream url, details on shareholder voting rights, dividend and taxation, and other key updates related to the AGM.
Reliance is expected to make several big-ticket announcements on its digital, retail, and petroleum businesses at the 43rd AGM.
The company official added,
"The use of a chatbot to assist investors for an AGM reinforces RIL’s commitment to digitally empower businesses and individuals through simple, smart, and secure technology-enabled solutions."
Earlier in June, Reliance had launched a WhatsApp chatbot to keep shareholders abreast of developments in the stock market and answer queries related to RIL's mega Rs 53,125-crore rights issue.
Just a day ago, the company also announced a Rs 730-crore investment from Qualcomm Ventures in Jio Platforms. This is its 13th foreign investment in a span of 12 weeks.
The total funding in Jio Platforms stands at Rs 118,318.45 crore (approximately $15.7 billion). Reliance has diluted 25.24 percent equity in its digital unit as it looks to make it debt-free before taking Jio public.
This also follows Reliance's recent deal with fuel retailer BP, which made Mukesh Ambani richer than Warren Buffett on the global billionaires' list.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta