This app gives you free data every time you use it!

Just when you thought the net neutrality debate was settling down, TRAI has re-opened that chapter. After it banned differential pricing, its latest paper has mentions of TSP-agnostic zero-rating platforms.

This critical paper has raised some valid questions on what violates the ethics of Net Neutrality, and what doesn’t, and more importantly whether zero-platforms can be built within the principles of Net Neutrality. One of the apps that have been mentioned in TRAI’s proposal is Gigato.

Gigato is an app that offers free data to its users. It has partnerships with the likes of Faasos, Jabong and Saavn and run promotions on their behalf, and give out free data in return.

Gigato is a subsidiary of US-based Mavin Co. The company’s official website says that it supports Net Neutrality and believes in ‘unrestricted data for unrestricted Internet’ for all users.

How this works is that the company has tied up with brand partners to run promotions, and offer free data in exchange. Built on Mavin’s technology, Gigato is currently limited to Android in India.

Sample these deals - Use 20MB data for WhatsApp and get 10 MB data free, use 5MB for Uber and get 10 MB data free and so on. Basically, the more data you use, the more you’re paid back. The app currently has over 100,000 downloads and claims to have returned over 150GB of data on peak days.

“We run lots of different pilots: Saavn, Jabong, TrulyMadly. In some cases data is given out for using the app for a certain amount of time, like say 20 minutes of usage will get you some data. We have 20 plus partners for promotions and the data is credited in MBs,” Shailesh Nalawadi, CEO and co-founder of Gigato explained in a recent interview.

He argues the app helps users in economizing data choices and is encouraging the usage of 3G networks.

When asked if this model might run into the same risk as the current net neutrality debate where a handful of biggies can squash startups in the ‘free data’ promotions race, Nalawadi argues the app has no operator restrictions and thus in a way is not violating Net neutrality in India.

This startup believes zero-rating apps on a TSP agnostic platform is what India needs. There will always be ones who disagree.

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