Local businesses feeling the impact of online Delhi University admissions

On a humid July afternoon, Manish Kumar sits idle behind the counter of his tiny photocopy and print shop at Malka Ganj chowk, scrolling through his phone. The June-July months used to be the highest grossing period for his business because of the Delhi University (DU) admissions. But not anymore. 

Since Covid-19, the DU’s shift to only online admissions through Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) has severely impacted small businesses - from stationary shops to eateries and rickshaw pullers- in the institute’s vicinity and its colleges across Delhi. The university has been offering both online and offline admissions since 2016. 

“June-July used to be our busiest months,” Kumar said, glancing toward the street. “There used to be long queues of parents and students who needed photocopies, affidavits, forms, photos etc. for admission formalities. Admission meant business for us, but now it’s over.” 

This year too, the DU admission season has begun, but not as usual. It is no longer a community event, but a solitary online task. For decades, the admission process was marked by long queues outside college gates, bustling markets, rickshaw-pullers ferrying anxious parents from one office to another and stationary shops overwhelmed with demand for photocopies and forms. Today, everything falls silent, as parents and students adapt to the new shift.

 

This move from offline to online has been detrimental to small businesses. “There is not even 25 per cent of business that used to be during this time,” said Kumar, patiently waiting. “Now only few students come to get their notes printed, but since vacations are going on, their frequency is also very low.”

 

Besides stationery shops, eateries and juice stall owners, and rickshaw pullers, who thrived on the rush of customers, including locals and those coming from outside Delhi to get their wards admitted, have seen a considerable decline in their income. Markets that were once full of new students, now find fewer hostellers walking through its lanes. 

 

Juice stalls and shikanji carts would usually on a hot day during this time see people queuing up to quench their thirst. “People would be standing here all day. Parents, students — they needed juices, shakes, cold drinks, water. My sales would double in those days,” says Rajender, who runs a juice shop near Hansraj College. With no offline admission, he has been a witness to the campus getting quieter over the years.

 

Small vendors like Rajender, who operate near the campus echoed similar sentiments. “My business has gone down 40 per cent since this online admission started,” remarked Vinay, owner of the Manchanda canteen outside the Law Faculty. “There used to be a lot of rush, which means business for us,” he added, while preparing a plate of maggi for his lone customer.

 

For years, rickshaw-pullers outside North Campus colleges earned a steady income ferrying families between colleges, banks, and hostels during admissions. “Earlier, one parent would come from Bihar or UP and need to visit four-five colleges. Now they sit at home on mobile," says Anil, an e-rickshaw driver outside the Vishwavidyalaya metro station.

 

Anil recalled how there used to be huge crowds outside metro stations waiting for rickshaws.

 

“Admission ke time humari kamaai sabse zyada hoti thi, bilklul khali nahi rehte the,” Anil, who used to own a cycle rickshaw, but has now shifted to e-rickshaw, said. “Ab to passenger se zyada rickshaw wale hai,” he said with a dejected smile, pointing to a line of rickshaws waiting for passengers.

 

Another sector that is hit hard by online admission is the rental flats and PGs that thrives in areas like Kamla Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Hudson Lane and Mukherjee Nagar. During admission season, students — especially from outside Delhi— would arrive with their parents to visit PGs and hunt for nearby accommodation. But now that entire process has gone virtual too.

 

“Earlier, families would walk in after college visits, look around rooms, ask about food, bathrooms, rent etc. — all in person,” said Rajesh Patel, a local PG broker in Kamla Nagar. “Seats used to get pre-booked from June onwards, but now that’s not the case. PGs have to wait till September and sometimes even October to get fully occupied.”

 

He said that people have moved to the virtual mode for their accommodation inquiries, but are hesitant to online booking and payment. “Now inquiries happen over calls. They ask for photos and videos through WhatsApp. However, very few of them book online, either because of trust issues or fear of online fraud,” Patel told Business Standard. 

 

(The writer is a Business Standard-Rahul Khullar journalism intern)