New Delhi, April 25:

Online payment of bills of various utility services is becoming popular among consumers in India and the trend is set for a whopping six-fold increase within two years, states a new study.

The study, conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in major cities of the country, found that the trend is gaining momentum and the number of customers making payments online will increase to 1.8 million by 2007 from a meagre 0.3 million in 2005-06.

“Offline bill payment is a time-consuming process and doing it online not only benefits those billing but consumers as well,” IAMAI president Subho Ray said. It offers convenience, control, trust, privacy, and helps maintain records in a better way,” IAMAI president Ray said.

Among those who make use the online payments facility, 73 per cent use it to pay cell phone bills and 58 per cent for electricity bills, followed by those paying insurance premiums (42 per cent) and Internet access bills (36 per cent).

Twenty-seven per cent paid for their magazine subscription online. Maharashtra (33.4 per cent) tops the list of states with highest number of consumers preferring the new mode of payment, followed by New Delhi (20.1 per cent).

Among cities, Mumbai tops the chart with 26.6 per cent, followed by New Delhi (19.8 per cent), Chennai (7.1 per cent) and Bangalore (6.5 per cent). The report said 27.3 per cent of online bill payers were from other cities, “which indicates the growing use of online bill payment outside the top 10 cities,”.

The research revealed that 54 per cent of the people surveyed cited convenience as the most important factor that induced them into paying bills online. As many as 35 per cent said that their aversion to standing for long hours in queues led them to pay online. “On average, customers saved 24 hours a year this way. Paying bills online also reduced paperwork and was an easier way to manage bills,” stated the report.

The option to pay multiple bills at a time also inspired some to the new mode of transaction.

Among the online bill payers, 46 per cent were in the age group of 26-35, followed by 22 per cent in the 18-25 age group. The new mode of bill payment has been popular more with males than females, as 83 per cent bill payers were men. The study found that 90 per cent of the online bill payers are graduates or with higher educational qualification, while only two per cent of them are high school pass-outs.