Irfan Shafi Parray lives in Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, a region with hardly any shopping malls. So Parray uses his mobile phone to order his favourite things, with the help of a slew of payment options that he has downloaded on to his phone. “I use the ‘Mall on your Mobile’ from Ngpay—a phone mall service—to buy books from Landmark, chocolates from Brunettes, perfumes and saris,” says the civil engineer, who also uses mChek, a mobile payments and security application, to authorize credit card transactions and tops up mobile currency at OxiCash.
Illustration: Raajan / Mint
At the other end of the country, in Bangalore, Vikram Rai, a media entrepreneur, uses his cellphone to post feeds on his Twitter account and chat on Facebook using a mobile Internet application—Fring—that links mobile users to online social networking sites. “I check the weather and also use maps to navigate when I travel,” says Rai.
Ngpay is the mobile commerce service from start-up JiGrahak Mobility Solutions Pvt. Ltd, while mChek is from mobile payments and security company mChek India Payment Systems Pvt. Ltd. OxiCash, from Oxigen Services (India) Pvt. Ltd, is based on a cash-less service called OxiCash Wallet that any mobile phone user can register for by paying Re1. Subsequent payments (called OxiCash) from Rs50 onwards can be used to pay for all the services available at an Oxigen outlet.
Both Parray and Rai are part of a growing breed of Indian consumers who are using mobile phones to do more than just talk.
“Music and entertainment, mobile gaming, informational services, mobile TV and mobile banking and payments are my top five picks for what people would like to have on their phone,” says Sanjay Swamy, chief executive officer, mChek India Payment Systems.
In a June study by consumer electronics magazine Living Digital on mobile phone usage by Indian consumers, SMS, or short messaging service, emerged as the most popular application. However, at least half the respondents also used their mobile phones to listen to music, take pictures, surf the Internet and play games, while about one-fifth used location-based services and accessed social networking sites, or used mobile phones to make payments, search for information, try new software or read e-books and store files.
It is a trend that has been growing steadily for almost a year. In a 2008 study on the mobile value-added services (VAS) market, consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers had estimated that the VAS market in India would garner revenues of $2 billion (around Rs9,680 crore) by 2008-09, with SMS accounting for 44% of this and ring-back tones and other personalized applications accounting for one-fifth. By 2015, the VAS market is expected to generate revenues of Rs20,000 crore.