Like thousands of Mumbaikars whose jobs were upended during the lockdown, photographer Sameer Joshi too, was compelled to explore alternative sources of income. In May, he, along with four other friends, launched Especia Delight, a startup that supplies fish. "With sourcing and supply of fish and meat being affected due to closed harbours, there was great demand for this service," he says. According to reports, startups in the organised fish, meat and poultry space witnessed a 300 per cent growth in sales during the lockdown. Now, with the opening up of mandis and brick and mortar stores, Joshi's sales have fallen by nearly 40 per cent. He is relying on loyal customers to keep the business afloat. "Because we catalogue the day's fresh catch, send pictures and videos and give prompt updates about deliveries, customers like the service." Over 80 per cent of his business interactions are conducted over WhatsApp. "It's free, easy and convenient."

Recently, WhatsApp announced its plans to charge business customers. While users will soon have more ways to see the products that businesses have available and make direct purchases, the Facebook-owned app said, in order to make this a reality, they will start charging its business customers for some of their services. Currently, no information has been provided on which services or how much Facebook plans to charge. Facebook said it would use some of the revenue from business sales to continue to offer free services to its more-than-two-billion WhatsApp users worldwide. Joshi says the cost will be an additional expenditure, which he's not sure he can afford at this point. "It's also true that I can't do without WhatsApp. Honestly, it will entirely depend on what charges they levy and how much," he says.