Average Indian household pays 42 bills online annually: IAMAI
11 Apr 2006
Mumbai: Though online bill payment is in its infancy in India, its potential is staggering. The average Indian household in the top 10 India cities pays up to 42 bills annually for a variety of services. As per the Research, the number of Indians paying bills online is expected to increase from the current 0.3 million in 2005-06 to 1.8 million by 2007-2008.
To facilitate and get a better understanding of the current online bill payment scenario in, the IAMAI mandated a study, Online Bill Payment Survey, conducted online in December 2005. The target audience comprised internet users with a sample size of 6,365 respondents. The report on online bill payment highlights the level of awareness of online bill payment services, the user's aversion and preferences with regard to online bill payment, their propensity to start paying bills online and factors that would increase the usage of the service. The coverage cut across age, gender, educational and occupational biases.
According to Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI, "Offline bill payment is a time-consuming process, and doing it online not only benefits billers but consumers as well. It offers convenience, control, trust, privacy, and improved record-keeping; another plus factor is that they can depend on customer service for recourse."
Ray further said, "Online bill payment is a cost saver for billers and a great revenue opportunity for banks and third-party service providers. Banks are in a particularly good position to cash in because of their reputation as trusted companies and with an estimated 16+ million Indians using their online banking services by 2007-08, they can further maximize their revenues on their e-infrastructure by promoting these services".
The survey was conducted with the objective of obtaining data to understand and anticipate online bill payment trends. The report provides granular information to financial institutions to enable them to cater to Indian online customers.
Fast Facts of the Online Bill Payment Survey
- 46 %were in the 26-35 age group
- 83 %bill payers were male and 17 %female
- Payment preferences:
- 73 %regularly paid cellular phone bills
- 72 %paid telephone bills
- 69 %paid credit card bills
- 58 %paid electricity bills
- 42 %paid insurance premiums
- 36 %paid Internet access bills
- 27 %paid for their magazine subscriptions online
- 73 %regularly paid cellular phone bills
- Top 5 states:
- 33.4 %from Maharashtra
- 20.1 %from New Delhi
- 9.9 %from from Tamil Nadu
- 7.5 %from Karnataka
- 5.4 %from Andhra Pradesh
