Patanjali to relaunch app

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 11, 2018

After previously retracting its app due to security flaws, Patanjali plans to relaunch its “Kimbho” communications app after rigorous testing.

Patanjali’s Kimbho messenger app was previously launched in May as an Indian competitor to the popular messaging app owned by Facebook, Whatsapp. However, the app was swiftly pulled due to security flaws. Acharya Balkrishna, Patanjali’s co-founder along with Baba Ramdev, has now promised to relaunch the app after sufficient and rigorous testing by a team of hackers and digital security experts.

“We pledge not to launch the app until a team of expert hackers and security specialists plug all the security and privacy loopholes,” said Balkrishna in a phone interview with Bloomberg. Balkrishna also promised that the app will have a greater array of features than its rival when it is re-launched in the near future.

Kimbho, which means “what’s up” in Sanskrit, had 300,000 downloads during the short time it was available and is hoping that users will not be put off by the previous security breaches. Patanjali was recently named as India’s most trusted fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand by the TRA and so perhaps the brand’s confidence in being given a second chance is not misplaced.

As Patanjali has expanded from its original product portfolio of beauty products and food items, it has now entered the security, clothing, telecom, and communications markets and is showing no signs of slowing down.