iWorld
ALTBalaji partners with Eko, India Financial Services
MUMBAI: India’s leading homegrown OTT platform, ALTBalaji announces a consumer benefitting alliance with Indian fintech company, Eko India Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. The association will allow the digital platform to use the Eko Store through which any merchant will be able to sell ALTBalaji subscriptions directly to potential subscribers who may not have access or may not be at ease using a digital payment mechanism.
Over 80% people earn in cash in India, thus, a number of potential customers are more comfortable paying in cash specially when it comes to modest amounts. The partnership is about providing assisted commerce not just as means of collecting money. Eko's merchant would be able to provide more information about ALTBalaji service and educate consumers and enable them to download the app. Using Eko, ALTBalaji is enabling payment in cash via Eko merchants, over & above all the digital modes of payment.
With over 40+ originals in its content offering, ALTBalaji has built on the legacy of creating iconic shows, like ‘Apharan,’ ‘Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain,’ ‘Home,’ ‘Gandii Baat’, ‘The Test Case’, ‘Bose: Dead or Alive’ among others which has been lauded by its audience. Established in 2007, Eko aims to enable seamless digital transactions for anybody, and from anywhere. Helming one of the largest and most efficient domestic money transfer services in the country, Eko also holds strong partnerships with banks with additional Prepaid Payment Instrument license from the RBI. With a demographic reach extending to over 150k retail stores in India, Eko will aid ALTBalaji to expand its presence by enabling easy process of selling the subscription. Merchants will have to follow a few easy steps to avail the voucher code provided on the portal giving easy access to sell ALTBalaji subscriptions.
Speaking about the association, Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO ALTBalaji and Group COO Balaji Telefilms said, “ALTBalaji is fuelling the growth of subscription based digital video streaming. Partnering with Eko is a way to bring the offline consumers into the online world. With ALTBalaji now being a part of their Eko Store, we are expanding our reach to a whole new audience and are excited to welcome them as a part of the ALTBalaji family.”
Commenting on the association, Abhinav Sinha, Co-founder and COO, Eko India Financial Services said, "Eko is pleased to partner with ALTBalaji. Through this partnership, ALTBalaji has launched its brand and services on the Eko Store, which gives them access to our vast network of merchants and customers. We believe this is a perfect fit for both, our customers and ALTBalaji. At Eko, our endeavour is to take digital products to the masses and help everyone benefit from the digital economy.”
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
