India’s youngest entrepreneur, the 13-year-old founder of Papers N Parcels wins honour at the India Maritime Awards

Mumbai: Tilak Mehta, the 13-year-old founder of the Mumbai-based courier company Papers N Parcels and India’s youngest entrepreneur, was given a special felicitation at the 3rd edition of the prestigious India Maritime Awards constituted by Daily Shipping Times, the pioneer and the oldest among shipping newspapers. The awards function held in the city on Friday was attended by the captains and who’s-who of the shipping and the logistics industry.

Tilak Mehta was honoured for being the country’s and the logistic and maritime sector’s youngest entrepreneur and for having pioneered a digital disruption in courier services industry. His company, Papers N Parcels, marries the power of mobile technology with the efficiency of the Mumbai dabbawala network for a courier-delivery service that’s faster, cheaper and much more reliable.

Speaking about the achievement, Tilak Mehta, Founder, Papers N Parcels, said: “I am extremely thrilled and honoured that India Maritime Awards chose to felicitate me amidst the presence of the bigwigs and industry captains. This honour indeed means a lot to me as it is the first formal recognition to my innovation. I am encouraged to work harder for making PNP a bigger success. At the same time, I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of my teammates, my family members and the dabbawala dadas for believing in me and in my idea and making the venture a success.”

“We are delighted to award Tilak Mehta. It is heartening to know that a 13year old is drawn to entrepreneurship and that too in our logistics sector. He has blended traditional with digital to deliver a unique customer experience as also augment job opportunities for the common man. Our industry and India as a country certainly has a bright future with the likes of him. Children today are so much more than the iPad, mobile playing minds we think. These awards aim to also encourage people towards the sector but Tilak came up with the idea himself. I am proud and happy with this wonderful development in Indian maritime and logistics. Wish him every success.” says Mr Kalpesh Modi, Editor in chief and Managing Director Daily Shipping Times.

Paper N Parcels is still on its Beta testing phase and the app will be launched soon in next 20 days. The innovative solution adopted by Tilak to make courier services within the city limits faster, cheaper and safer by using technology and the dabbawala network for deliveries was backed by his father, who is an established businessman himself, and put to execution by a team of highly-qualified and experienced professionals at the leadership position.

PNP deploys the network of Mumbai’s dabbawalas for ferrying couriers across the city, apart from having its own dedicated team of delivery boys. Each of these deliverymen is equipped with a smartphone loaded with the PNP app, which enables them to register pick-up and delivery requests on the go.

The courier company offers various benefits to its customers such as same-day delivery option, door-to-door pick up facility, a user-friendly app and direct dedicated customer service helpline to register requests and complaints, along with lowest prices for courier deliveries. The Real Time Tracking feature provided in the app enables customers to track their package on a real-time basis and also provides details of the person carrying the package, which enhances the safety factor. The company plans to employ 2,000 people with a pick-up in the business by next year.