Amazon India Now Requires OTP to Complete High-Value Order Deliveries, Adds 'No Rush Delivery' Option

Amazon India has started giving a One Time Password (OTP) to customers making certain high-value orders to offer a more secure shopping experience. The OTP will need to be entered on the delivery agent's device to complete and confirm the delivery. Additionally, the online marketplace has been spotted offering a 'No Rush Delivery' option under which customers will receive a cashback worth Rs. 15. The latest developments emerge days after the India subsidiary of the Seattle, Washington-based company celebrated its fifth anniversary in the country by giving a cashback worth Rs. 250 to customers spending Rs. 1,000 or more using a digital payment method.

The new OTP feature comes into action when you make an order on Amazon India - specifically, a high-value product in select categories and Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). The online marketplace gives a unique six-digit OTP in the message confirming the order. This OTP needs to be entered on the delivery agent's device to complete and confirm the delivery.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the move in a statement to Gadgets 360: "As a customer-centric company, we take great care in the safe delivery of all our customer packages. To enable this we have a new OTP (One Time Password) based delivery mechanism where for certain orders, we generate a OTP to the customer registered mobile number and email address which can be used by the customer to accept delivery of the order."

Amazon also confirmed another measure it is taking for high-value orders is the use of secure package IDs to ensure these products are packed in tamper-proof bags. Since the OTP and tamper-proof bags features exist for orders containing expensive items, they is likely to limit the instances of deliveries to the wrong person, and possibly even limit theft by personnel in the logistics teams.

In addition to the feature sending OTPs on specific orders, Amazon India has started providing a No Rush Delivery option on certain orders. The new option is designed for orders that don't require urgent deliveries. Moreover, customers opting for the new option receive a Amazon Pay cashback worth Rs. 15.

Earlier this month, Amazon India celebrated its fifth anniversary and gave a cashback worth Rs. 250 to customers spending Rs. 1,000 or more on its online marketplace using any digital payment method. "On our fifth anniversary in India, I want to say thank you for your support and for making Amazon.in the most visited shopping site in India for the last two years," CEO Jeff Bezos had said in a letter posted on the Amazon India site.

Features like the OTP availability and No Rush Delivery option are expected to help Amazon make its e-commerce model a stronger competitor against Walmart-backed Flipkart and continue to retain its leadership in India. The online marketplace notably has 50 fulfilment centres in 13 states across the country.