News Broadcasting
PhonePe goes live across over 1 million offline stores in Delhi-NCR
MUMBAI: PhonePe, India’s fastest growing payments platform today announced that it is now live as a payment option across 1 million offline merchant outlets in Delhi-NCR. This milestone reflects PhonePe’s phenomenal acceptance across large organised retail stores as well as small and mid-size retail stores in the region.
Speaking on reaching this milestone, Yuvraj Singh Shekhawat, Head – Offline Business Growth, PhonePe, said, “Our offline business has seen phenomenal traction in the last one year in Delhi-NCR and customers can now transact seamlessly using PhonePe at both small Kirana stores and larger retail outlets. The entire payments process on PhonePe is extremely fast and seamless ensuring consumers have a convenient experience. We are now live at most organised retail outlets across grocery, fuel, medicines and account for 6 -10% of all non-cash transactions.”
Vivek Lohcheb, Head – Offline Business Development added, “We are excited to reach this important milestone in Delhi-NCR. PhonePe has always adopted a partnership model with all its merchants and gone beyond being just a payments service provider. PhonePe's QR allows merchants to accept consumer payments from any UPI app and not just PhonePe alone. For the merchants, this makes the digital payment acceptance process simple and reconciliations seamless. All a merchant needs is a feature phone to get started. We also provide them with visibility on our app where over 150 million users can discover merchants in the vicinity that accept PhonePe, effectively increasing footfalls to their business.”
PhonePe has been rapidly expanding its reach across India and today it has a presence in 150+ cities in India. PhonePe continues to expand into newer geographies enabling even local kiranas to accept payments from consumers through digital payment mediums like UPI, Credit Cards, Debit Cards and Wallets.
PhonePe recently introduced a ‘Stores' tab on the app enabling hyper-local discovery of partner merchants for users. Keeping in mind the daily working capital requirements of merchants PhonePe offers instant settlements along with zero processing fee on UPI transactions. PhonePe has a merchant app as well that facilitates end-to-end control on the payment process for merchants including transaction confirmation and reconciliation.
Some of the key offline merchants across Delhi – NCR that today accept payments using diverse PhonePe solutions are:
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Groceries |
Spencers, Raj Mandir, Honey Money Top Retail, MunafaMart, Modern Bazaar |
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F&B |
CCD, KFC, Pizza Hut, Nazeer Foods, Biryani Blues, Emoi, Kebab Xpress, The Beer Café |
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Healthcare & Wellness |
ApolloPharmacy,, Cut & Style, Hair Masters, Healthskool Pharmacy, Guardian Pharmacy, House of diagnostics |
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Retail |
Woodland, Bata, Pantaloons, Clear Dekho, Vega, Indya By Faballey, Vega |
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Others |
Croma |
News Broadcasting
News18 India launches Command Centre war explainer with Arya
New show shifts from debates to decoding global conflicts and impacts
MUMBAI: News18 India has rolled out a new war-focused programme, Command Centre, featuring Gaurav Arya, as it looks to offer viewers a sharper, more grounded take on global conflicts amid rising tensions in West Asia.
Positioned as an “insider war room”, the show moves away from conventional panel debates and instead focuses on explaining military developments, decoding strategy and connecting global events to their everyday impact, from fuel prices to economic shifts.
The format leans heavily on visuals and data. The studio has been designed like a command hub, complete with large LED war maps, real-time graphics and an alert system to track developments as they unfold.
At the centre of it all is Arya, who brings his military background to simplify complex war strategies for viewers. His signature line, “Seedhi baat samjhiye”, anchors the show’s promise of clarity over noise.
News18 India managing editor Jyoti Kamal said, “Command Centre, featuring Major Gaurav Arya is designed to deliver accurate insights and a clear perspective on how evolving conflicts impact everyday life, from household budgets to national security. With expert voices analysing every development in real time, the show goes beyond headlines to decode what’s happening now, what it means, and what could come next.”
Echoing the intent, Gaurav Arya added, “In times of war, confusion is the biggest threat. With News18 India’s Command Centre, we are bringing viewers inside the war room, decoding strategies, tracking every escalation, and explaining, in the simplest terms, what it means for India and for every household. Seedhi baat samjhiye, this is where you understand not just what is happening, but what happens next.”
The weekday show will air in the afternoon slot and will also feature Gaurav Shukla, adding to its editorial depth.
With its mix of analysis, visuals and a clear focus on impact, the show reflects a broader shift in news consumption. Viewers are no longer just watching events unfold, they are looking to understand what those events mean for them.
