The Hindu Business Line : Average Indian household pays 42 bills online a year: Study

Contrary to popular perception, an average Indian household in the top 10 cities in the country pays up to 42 bills online annually, most of it to finance, insurance, telecom and utilities companies. And the community of Internet-savvy Indians paying bills online is expected to increase from the current 0.3 million in 2005-06 to 1.8 million by 2007-2008.

These were the findings of a study mandated by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) recently. The study conducted online in December 2005 on Online Bill Payment highlights the level of awareness of online bill payment services, user's aversion and preferences, their propensity to start paying bills online and factors that would increase the usage of the service. It comprised Internet users with a sample size of 6,365 respondents.

Influencing factors

"About 54 per cent cited convenience as the most important factor that induced them into paying bills online. About 35 per cent cited time savings as they could pay bills without having to stand in line at a counter or even go a bill payment centre. On average, customers saved 24 hours a year; paying bills online also reduced paperwork and was an easier way to manage bills. About 5 per cent were attracted to online bill payment because they could pay multiple bills at the same time on the same site or on different sites," it said.

Consumer profile

Close to 46 per cent of online bill payers were in the 26-35 age group, followed by the 18-25 segment (22 per cent). Most of the online bill payers were young professionals, well-versed in the nuances of the Internet. About 83 per cent of online bill payers were male and 17 per cent were female.

The survey observed that 64 per cent of online bill payers were executives (junior, middle and senior levels), 11 per cent were professionals or self-employed, 4 per cent were businessmen/ industrialists, 6 per cent were supervisors/ officers, 3 per cent students, 2 per cent housewives and one per cent were shop owners.

"About 33.4 per cent of online bill payers were from Maharashtra, 20.1 per cent were from Delhi; the two States had the highest number of online bill payers. Almost 9.9 per cent were from Tamil Nadu, 7.5 per cent from Karnataka and 5.4 per cent from Andhra Pradesh, completing the list of the top 5 States," it said.

Top 10 cities

Amongst the top 10 cities, about 26.6 per cent of online bill payers were from Mumbai, 19.8 per cent from Delhi, 7.1 per cent from Chennai, 6.5 per cent from Bangalore, and 3.2 per cent from Hyderabad, making up the list of the Top five cities as far as online bill payment was concerned. "About 3.1 per cent came from Pune, 2.8 per cent from Kolkata, 1.4 per cent from Ahmedabad, 1.1 per cent from Lucknow and 1 per cent from Indore," it added.

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