Amidst the COVID-19 situation in the nation and worldwide, Chennai based software-as-a-service company Zoho has announced plans to make its products free for more than 20,000 of its paying consumers.

As per the business emergency subscription assistance programme (ESAP), Zoho consumers with a team of 25 or lesser employees will now be able to access all of its products for the next three months. The decision came from Sridhar Vembu, co-founder and CEO of Zoho after the deadly disease has spread to 150 countries within a period of 80 days. Commenting on the decision, Vembu said that every bit of help Zoho, and other companies, can offer to keep these small businesses afloat will go a long way, not just financially but emotionally as well.

Being 24 years in the industry, the company caters to more than 50 million users spread across 180 countries. Recently, the company has also launched Remotely, a collaboration of 11 applications on a virtual productivity platform. Since the launch, more than 5000 companies are using the platform, and the company has witnessed an average growth of 500 per cent in the usage of its collaboration apps.

In the previous week, Zoho showcased its strong sales growth for the financial year 2018-2019. The company claimed revenue from operation grew at 37 per cent to Rs. 3,307 crore from Rs. 2,412 crore in the previous year. However, the company is likely to witness a decline for the financial year 2019-2020 and the coming year, if the situation does not improve in a month or two.

Vembu concluded by saying that Zoha has pledged to provide relief to as many small business customers as possible, and will prioritize those who are most in need. He further urged other companies to help Zoho by allowing this program to remain available for those struggling to stay afloat.