“She wanted this,” says N. Vignesh of Kovai Delivery Boys (KDB) and shows me an image on his phone. A new mother had sent him a picture of a battery-operated toy car she wanted them to get for her.
“But, we couldn’t locate it at any of the toy stores in the city. So, we ordered it online and delivered it to her. She was thrilled. And, paid us our delivery charges too!”
You may have seen green and red T-shirt-clad men on their bikes about town. They are part of a close-knit team of 40 youngsters, most of them friends, who meet every day at R.S. Puram before setting off on their mission to deliver the unlikeliest of parcels from one place to another. Vignesh says he has picked up a parcel of 1500 home-made rotis from Coimbatore and delivered it in Dharapuram! Sometimes it is an empty LPG cylinder that he transported to Walayar in Palakkad.
“I have carried piping hot biriyani worth Rs 80, 000 from HMR Hotel in the city to Karamadai for a wedding.” KDB has been a saviour to the elderly in the city and also to the young and in love. “I carried a bouquet of roses from Coimbatore to Ooty for a birthday,” smiles Vignesh.
- Kovai Delivery Boys app, a one stop source for services. From plumbing and electricity services, to booking a taxi and buying groceries
- They charge ₹50 for the first five kms and ₹10 for every extra km from then on. The charges vary based on the product and the distance.
- They also have long-distance delivery packages for 12 hours (₹ 800) and 24 hours
- ( ₹1600). For availing this kind of service, the delivery people will also have to be paid for their food.
- Every member in the city gets 15 to 20 deliveries a day
- Now there is a network in Sankagiri near Salem where they call themselves Sankagiri Delivery Boys
- For details, call: 99442-05765/ 99408-58002
The KDB team has a customer base of over 300. “We run it like family. All our boys are owners,” explains A. Manimaran, one of the founders. His experience at the delivery section of a hotel chain encouraged Manimaran to start KDB. “Though there is competition from food delivery apps, we have an edge over them. They deliver only food, and within a 15-km radius, while we cater to a 100-km radius and deliver anything. You name it and we get it for you. We are especially sought after by those who live abroad and worry about their parents back home. They call us to deliver medicines, etc.” KDB will also pay electricity and phone bills.
For the students who can’t get away KDB is a friend in need. “College students, especially those studying medicine, call us to buy books and medical instruments from Town Hall. School students too call to buy materials for their projects. Once, we bought a special torch for them from the Decathlon Sports Shop,” recalls Vignesh.
S. Shankar, who is the assistant manager at KDB says they have become trusted friends of their customers who will entrust anything from fuel and farm fresh mangoes to home made murukkus or expensive cameras from one place in the city to another or even out of the city. Flower garlands for temple festivals, keys that have been left behind at home, poultry feed and even milk - they have delivered them all. They have even turned dabbawallas to reach home cooked food to a loved one in school or office. For V. David Raja, founder member of KDB, it is serving the elderly that gives him most satisfaction. “Most of them live alone, as their children are settled abroad. They often invite us inside, serve us coffee, and treat us like family,” he says.
Their next stop is to launch an app. Says Manimaran: “In four years, we have grown from a two-member team to 40 and interacted with over 4000 customers. We have built a network on trust. It gives us peace, and money too. And, the best part? We are our own boss.”
