startups like NoBroker.in are disrupting the market with no requirement of such brokers, they are going berserk, and protesting against the online business model.
This June, a consortium of offline real estate brokers had sued NoBroker.in over a radio advertisement, where they were asking the customers to avoid paying brokerage fee via their online platform.
This is not the first instance of offline vs online battle in the country: Last year, offline retailers of mobile phones boycotted Android One devices, as they were launched only on online portals; offline retailers have demanded an ‘Entry Tax’ for all online goods purchased; they have even dragged the Govt. to court, demanding FDI level playing field against online retailers.
Last year, similar online vs offline war erupted over President Pranab Mukherjee’s new book, which was launched online.
In 2013, offline retailers formed a consortium called ‘We Will Act’, as a consolidated platform for protesting against online business model, all over the country.
But when it comes to real estate, then the power of Internet cannot be simply ignored.
As per a Google research, Internet influenced $43 billion worth of real estate decisions in India.
It is indeed a sad that offline brokers and agents are still not able to understand, that the business model is changing and it will keep on changing as Internet becomes more wide-spread. Either they will be required to evolve, or they will perish.
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Business