BENGALURU: Rate My Stay, a Bengaluru-based start-up, was launched in association with Christ University, on the occasion of celebrating achievments of the Department of Professional Studies. Spearheaded by IIT-Bombay alumnus Amit Sarawagi, the app aims to provide a solution to students and parents with respect to quality living facilities outside the campus. It has been designed to inform students about accommodation in specific localities according to their choice of specifications.
Speaking about the idea, Sarawagi who is currently the Audit Practice Leader at Grant Thorton, recalled that during the initial days of training from the university, he noticed that while on-campus accommodation was limited, facilities outside were below par, which raised concerns. “There is hardly a database, website or an app which provides living options available to a student. Among the options available, many do not match the description. On our platform, we capture feedback from the user on a macro-level, which is in real-time,” says Sarawagi, adding that each facility on-boarded to the platform goes through the most minute of checking processes, ranging from a broken faucet clean to quality, each parameter holds weightage on the facility rating.
“During our research, 32 per cent were not satisfied with the hygiene levels maintained at most facilities. When we dived deeper into this, 71 per cent said they want a clean washroom. When we put all the on-boarded facilities, they will have to abide by these parameters, each holding a significant amount of weightage and will also generate a healthy competition by maintaining the quality,” he adds.
For students at the university, the platform comes as a long-awaited change. For second-year students Rishika Gaur and Gulnar Puri, the convenience factor, especially for students from other states, is a major bonus. “I made five trips in a week to finalise on a proper accommodation facility. This platform provides options with real-time data and saves time in filtering options,” Gaur says. Ask them on whether there’s a bigger issue at hand and Puri says, “The location definitely matters, even when you look for a PG, more than a clean room and washroom, safety measures should be in place accordingly.”