E Billing....the recent statistics from The Tribune..

200% rise in e-billing business Ravi BhatiaTribune News Service
New Delhi, February 14The e-billing business has grown by over 200 per cent. Its size is likely to reach 6.5 million by 2008-09 from the current 1.9 million, says the Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
An average individual saves about 80 hours of his time by paying his bills through the Internet. India’s Internet population stands at over 100 million. It is set to reach 125 million by 2008-09.
Annually, an average Indian household in top 10 cities pays approximately 50 bills, in areas like — finances, insurance, telecommunications and utilities companies, electricity, water, house and other civic taxes.
“Offline bill payment is time-consuming, and doing it online not only benefits billers but consumers as well. Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) as a potential cost saver, it’s a great revenue opportunity for banks and third-party service providers. Banks are in a good position to cash in because of their reputation as ‘trusted companies’ and should recognise that their online customers are more profitable than their offline customers,” said ASSOCHAM president Venugopal N Dhoot.
While automated bank debits for bill payment have been available to consumers for more than a decade, it’s the benefit of self-service at any hour and increasing comfort with online financial transactions that are attracting netizens to Internet bill payment services in large numbers.
In a survey conducted by ASSOCHAM on “e-Billing – A Better Option For Convenience”, it was discovered that Mumbai has taken lead in e-billing as about 28% of its population takes advantage of e-billing transactions followed by 22% of Delhi, 12.5% of Chennai, 12% of Bangalore, and 5.2% of Hyderabad. In Pune, online payment is affected by about 5% of its total population and between 6-7% of Kolkata, 2.4% of Ahemdabad, 2.2% of Lucknow and about 2% of Indore.
It also found that 73% of online payers access the Internet from their homes, while 79% do it from their office, 36% access it from cyber cafes, 7% from a friend’s place and 14% from the mobile phone, points out ASSOCHAM analysis.
75% of cell phone owners choose online medium for payment of their bills. 73% owners of landline telephones also opt for this medium for bill payment. 70% pay credit card bills online while 60% pay electricity bills online. 45% pay insurance premium through online, 42% pay Internet access bills with this medium while 29% pay for their magazine subscriptions online.
54% cited convenience as the most important that induced them into paying bills online. 35% cited time saving as they could pay bills without having to stand in line at a counter or even a bill payment centre. On average, customer saved 80 hours a year; paying bills online also reduced paperwork and was an easier way to manage bills. 5% were attracted to online bill payment because they could pay multiple bills at the same time on the same site or on different site.
46% of online bill payers are between the age of 26-35, followed by 22% in the age 18-25 group. 20% are in the 36-45 age group, 11% in the 40-60 bracket and 2% in the 61+ age bracket.
83% online bill payers are male and 17% are female. 43% are unmarried, 14% married with no kids and 43% are married with kids.
By occupation, online bill payers 3% are students while 6% are supervisors/officers. 64% are executives (including junior, middle and senior levels). 4% are businessmen/ industrialist, 1% are shop owners and 2% are housewives.
99% of online bill payers use the Internet for e-mails; 82% use search engines; 81% use it for surfing, 68% look up news online; 20% look up news on the mobile; 80% use it for online banking, 57% use it for online shopping; 33% trade stocks online, 28% participate in online bidding.
“Netizens will increasingly adopt online bill payment for factors such as convenience, control, trust, privacy, and improved record-keeping; another plus factor is that they can depend on customer service for recourse,” said DHOOT