India’s e-commerce boom comes with a hidden cost — and it’s not small. Tech Mahindra just won FICO’s second annual Global System Integrator Hackathon for tackling exactly that: the massive losses caused by Cash-on-Delivery (COD) returns.
Held at FICO’s Bengaluru campus, the hackathon challenged global partners to build real-world financial solutions using FICO Platform. Tech Mahindra’s winning team zeroed in on one of India’s most stubborn e-commerce pain points.
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The Problem: COD Returns Are Bleeding Retailers Dry
Industry reports show India’s e-commerce sector loses billions annually to COD returns, with Return-to-Origin (RTO) rates hitting 25-30% for COD orders — compared to just 2-3% for prepaid orders. That gap represents a massive drain on retailer margins nationwide.
Tech Mahindra Solution: 70+ Risk Signals, Real-Time Decisions
Tech Mahindra’s platform evaluates more than 70 risk signals across the entire cart-to-payment journey, simultaneously handling:
- COD eligibility checks
- Prepaid incentive strategy
- Delivery partner selection
- Dark store routing
Built to be transparent and audit-ready, the system was projected to deliver a 6-9% reduction in RTO rates — translating to roughly ₹1 crore (about $120,000 USD) in monthly loss reductions, based on one million orders per month.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Winner | Tech Mahindra |
| Event | FICO Global System Integrator (GSI) Hackathon, 2nd edition |
| Location | FICO Bengaluru campus |
| Platform Used | FICO Platform |
| Risk Signals Evaluated | 70+ |
| Projected RTO Reduction | 6-9% |
| Projected Monthly Savings | ~₹1 crore (~$120,000) |
Anil Venuturupalli, SVP and Chief Product Officer for Financial Services at Tech Mahindra, said the solution reflects how intelligent decisioning can help enterprises reduce risk while keeping the customer experience seamless.
The team later presented their work at FICO World 2026 in Orlando, Florida, where FICO’s Chief Revenue Officer Jason Andrew praised the solution for tackling a problem “people have stopped trying to fix.”
This kind of AI-driven decision intelligence is becoming central to how enterprises manage risk at scale — turning fragmented data points into real-time, explainable business decisions.
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Why This Matters For E-Commerce
As digital commerce scales, the margin between profit and loss increasingly comes down to smart, real-time decisions — not just transaction processing. Tech Mahindra’s win signals where enterprise AI is headed next: proactive risk management built directly into the customer journey.
FAQs
Q1. What problem did Tech Mahindra’s solution solve?
It tackled India’s high Cash-on-Delivery return rates by using 70+ real-time risk signals to optimize payment and delivery decisions.
Q2. How much could the solution save retailers?
It’s projected to cut RTO rates by 6-9%, saving around ₹1 crore monthly on one million orders.
