Stuck In A 45-Minute Xerox Queue, Two Chennai Friends Built A Printing ATM

A printing ATM is a self-service kiosk that handles printing without requiring a shopkeeper at a counter. It matters because users can avoid queues and print documents even when nearby shops are closed. QwikPrint designed its kiosks for campuses and other places where people need pages quickly.

The process starts when a user scans a QR code and uploads a document from a phone or laptop. The user chooses options such as copies and print settings, pays digitally, and receives the pages through an OTP-based collection system. QwikPrint says the process can take about 60 seconds.

The kiosk is intended to operate without staff and around the clock. QwikPrint also says encryption and privacy-focused measures keep uploaded documents accessible only to the user. Its larger aim is to make printing available on demand in universities, hospitals, and government offices.

QwikPrint was founded by Chennai-based entrepreneurs Pranav Senthil and Subeshwar P. Their idea grew from personal frustration with long waits for ordinary printouts. Pranav remembered waiting about 45 minutes during college, despite having around 18 Xerox shops on campus. Subeshwar faced a similar delay while trying to print a medical insurance bill.

The founders launched QwikPrint in June 2025. Its kiosks let people upload documents, choose print settings, pay digitally, and collect pages themselves. The system is designed to remove the counter-based process that makes every transaction depend on staff availability and a moving queue.

The company reports installations at Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Dhaanish Ahmed College of Engineering, and PSG iTech. As of May 2026, it reported nearly 45 kiosks across Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Delhi. The founders also had to solve hardware, supplier, and trust challenges.

As of May 2026, QwikPrint reported nearly 45 kiosks. The company said these were spread across five cities: Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Delhi. That gives the startup a presence beyond the founders’ Chennai base.

The article names three college campuses with installations: Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Dhaanish Ahmed College of Engineering, and PSG iTech. It does not provide a total number of colleges using QwikPrint. Therefore, three is the number of specifically named colleges, not necessarily the company’s full college network.

This early scale follows a launch in June 2025. Expansion required more than building software. The founders had to find manufacturers willing to make small prototype batches, then build confidence among universities, suppliers, and possible partners. The reported kiosk count shows deployment, while the named campuses show the education setting that inspired the idea.

The kiosk speeds printing by moving the usual counter interaction to a digital workflow. Instead of handing a file to a shopkeeper, the user starts independently by scanning a QR code and uploading the document from a phone or laptop. This removes the need to wait for a staff member to receive and process the request.

The user then selects the number of copies and other print settings. After making a digital payment, the user receives the printout through an OTP-based system. Each step is connected in one self-service process, so the person can complete the transaction without joining a queue for a short job.

QwikPrint says the entire process can take about 60 seconds. The article does not provide technical timings for each step or explain the kiosk’s internal hardware. It presents the result as a simpler access model, designed to reduce dependence on shop opening hours, counter staff, and queues.

A self-service kiosk addresses more than crowded queues. Because QwikPrint intends its machines to operate without staff and around the clock, users can print after nearby shops have shut. That matters for urgent documents, especially when a person cannot wait until the next business day or find an open counter.

The system also tackles privacy concerns. Students and professionals may print forms, identification documents, applications, and other files they do not want a stranger handling. QwikPrint says its system uses encryption and privacy-focused measures so uploaded documents are accessible only to the user.

These features change the printing experience from a staff-dependent service into a private, user-controlled one. The kiosk still handles ordinary print choices, including copies and settings, but users complete the transaction themselves. QwikPrint sees this model potentially fitting universities, hospitals, and government offices where urgent documents are common.

A campus can have many printing shops and still have long queues because the bottleneck is not simply the number of printers. Each shop usually requires a person behind a counter to receive the file, confirm settings, take payment, and hand over the pages. Every customer must wait for that transaction to finish.

Pranav experienced this during college. His campus had around 18 Xerox shops, yet he recalls waiting about 45 minutes for a printout, whether he needed one page or 100. The article describes the same pattern elsewhere: more shops can still produce more queues when access remains counter-based.

QwikPrint’s founders concluded that people were waiting because of how printing was accessed. Their kiosks remove some of the dependence on staff, shop opening hours, and manual queue movement. Users manage the upload, settings, payment, and collection themselves, even for a very small print job.

QwikPrint sees on-demand printing as useful wherever people regularly need documents in a hurry. The article specifically names universities, hospitals, and government offices as possible locations. These settings could benefit from a service that is available without requiring every request to pass through a staffed printing counter.

At a kiosk, a user scans a QR code, uploads a document, selects copies and print settings, pays digitally, and collects the pages through an OTP. The process is designed to take about 60 seconds. The kiosk can also operate without staff and around the clock, according to QwikPrint.

The company’s current installations are mainly associated with campuses, including Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Dhaanish Ahmed College of Engineering, and PSG iTech. Its broader opportunity depends on whether institutions adopt the model. The article says QwikPrint aims to change where and how printing is available, rather than simply replace Xerox shops.