Plugo - Rent a power bank to charge your smartphone

aadya · 3rd February 2020, 12:56

Couple of months back I have noticed this small Kiosks, installed on the walls, in my workplace. It had multiple power banks inserted to the slots with some qr codes displayed on the body.Out of curiosity I started checking about this. "It turned out to be a rent-able power bank". Good concept. I have seen people often running around checking for chargers and scouting for plug points.

I too have been in such scenarios, few times. I used to carry power bank for sometime. Power banks tend to be heavy, often loosing efficiency after few months. Again we might forget to charge the power banks and also has the risk of getting lost. Then started carrying chargers and keeping one in places where I expect to stay at-least couple of hours everyday. Home, workplace, Car etc. Then the problem of the OEM one's being expensive and non OEM ones not fitting or working properly. And there was a risk of getting lost/stolen.

I usually make sure, in the mornings, I leave home with at-least 90% of charge in mobile. But there are days where I connect but forget to switch on the charger. Poor network eating up the essential battery and other scenarios when I wished I had a charger.

This concept of Rent-able chargers seems to be decently priced and placed conveniently. I have used it couple of times. Seems to be pretty easy. Install an app, Pay refundable deposit of 199 and start using. They charge 3Rs per hour which is pretty cheap considering the chaos I face when getting disconnected from my mad world. All those times I have used it I had a charge of about 40-50 percentage and in an hour I get it to around 90% and I return the charger.

Pros : Conveniently placed, App is Easy and straightforward, Pricing is very good.

Cons : Prone for vandalism, Chargers are bulky, Too low pricing might make it unviable and service might loose its sheen.

https://plugo.io/

nitin.rai · 3rd February 2020, 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by aadya

Seems to be pretty easy. Install an app, Pay refundable deposit of 199 and start using. They charge 3Rs per hour which is pretty cheap considering the chaos I face when getting disconnected from my mad world. All those times I have used it I had a charge of about 40-50 percentage and in an hour I get it to around 90% and I return the charger.

Pros : Conveniently placed, App is Easy and straightforward, Pricing is very good.

Cons : Prone for vandalism, Chargers are bulky, Too low pricing might make it unviable and service might loose its sheen.

https://plugo.io/

Hi aadya - Thank you for using Plugo and happy to share that the startup (Plugo) was co-founded by one of the bhpian - yours truly.

I am glad that you have used the service!

The reason why we have kept the rates at 3 & 9 is because it brings in operational efficiencies for us (won't go into much detail

) and with fast charge support your phone is charged 100% in under an hour.

The chargers are lightweight as we don't use lead. They are the same size as your iPhone XR and the reason is we have planned future variants of higher capacity batteries and will piggy back on the existing infra.

The devices are inside retail premises so we so far haven't noticed a case of vandalism. The dispensing can't be done without a QR code scan so safety is good too.

The pricing is a sweet spot for us and the consumer at the moment as we are trying to drive a consumer behaviour change.

Thank you for covering us!!

Happy to answer any more questions by forum members.

alpha1 · 3rd February 2020, 15:35

Are you guys also available at airports (or railways stations etc.)?
Multiple times (when I used iPhone) I have been nearly stranded because of lack of charge on the phone.

I shifted to Redmi phone mainly for this reason.

3rd February 2020, 12:56	#1
aadya BHPian Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: BANGALORE Posts: 297 Thanked: 1,271 Times	Plugo - Rent a power bank to charge your smartphone Couple of months back I have noticed this small Kiosks, installed on the walls, in my workplace. It had multiple power banks inserted to the slots with some qr codes displayed on the body.Out of curiosity I started checking about this. "It turned out to be a rent-able power bank". Good concept. I have seen people often running around checking for chargers and scouting for plug points. I too have been in such scenarios, few times. I used to carry power bank for sometime. Power banks tend to be heavy, often loosing efficiency after few months. Again we might forget to charge the power banks and also has the risk of getting lost. Then started carrying chargers and keeping one in places where I expect to stay at-least couple of hours everyday. Home, workplace, Car etc. Then the problem of the OEM one's being expensive and non OEM ones not fitting or working properly. And there was a risk of getting lost/stolen. I usually make sure, in the mornings, I leave home with at-least 90% of charge in mobile. But there are days where I connect but forget to switch on the charger. Poor network eating up the essential battery and other scenarios when I wished I had a charger. This concept of Rent-able chargers seems to be decently priced and placed conveniently. I have used it couple of times. Seems to be pretty easy. Install an app, Pay refundable deposit of 199 and start using. They charge 3Rs per hour which is pretty cheap considering the chaos I face when getting disconnected from my mad world. All those times I have used it I had a charge of about 40-50 percentage and in an hour I get it to around 90% and I return the charger. Pros : Conveniently placed, App is Easy and straightforward, Pricing is very good. Cons : Prone for vandalism, Chargers are bulky, Too low pricing might make it unviable and service might loose its sheen. https://plugo.io/
	() Thanks

3rd February 2020, 15:35	#3
alpha1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: LandOfNoWinters Posts: 2,093 Thanked: 2,605 Times	re: Plugo - Rent a power bank to charge your smartphone Are you guys also available at airports (or railways stations etc.)? Multiple times (when I used iPhone) I have been nearly stranded because of lack of charge on the phone. I shifted to Redmi phone mainly for this reason.
	() Thanks