DG Patel

The Pune market for refilling generates around Rs 1 crore per month. The
sector has been unorganized for the past several years. In Pune there are some
500 people who are into this business. However, many partners are doing
unethical business and do not provide quality services to end-customers. But
gradually there has been a change in the perception of these partners who are
realizing the importance of doing quality business with ethics. As a result,
more companies are jumping into the arena.

There has been a 20 to 25 percent increase in sales of printers, as compared
to last year. The credit goes to the arrival of low-cost printers. This only
provides more scope for cartridge re-manufacturers.

DG Patel

The major challenge ahead of re-manufacturers is taking on the OEM vendors.
OEMs have been scraping the warranty of a printer, in case a refill cartridge is
used. They do this to safeguard their own interest, as the margins in their
printer consumables' business is high. But it is not good for us.

In spite of all their efforts we are getting good business. In recent times,
some of the big companies have approached us. These companies were earlier using
only original OEM manufactured products, but now, to reduce cost they are
switching to refilled cartridges. I hope the business will grow further, in the
next few years. Creating awareness is the only solution to safeguarding the
interest of customers. While corporates always go for quality the problem lies
with the single user, who comes to refill one or two cartridges. They are more
concerned about the cost than the quality. Helping them would be difficult for
us.