“Present status and prospect of

paying utility bill through mobile

phone: perspective Bangladesh”

Transmittal Letter

2nd May, 2011

Rezwanul Haque Khan

Assistant Professor

School Of Business

United International University

Subject: Request to accept the term paper on “present status and prospect of

paying utility bill through mobile phone: perspective Bangladesh.”

Dear Sir:

Most courteously to affirm that, here six B.B.A students of your section (F), are

suggesting their report on “Present status and prospect of paying utility bill

through mobile phone: perspective Bangladesh”. It gives enormous contentment

to notify you that this group has accomplished its report under your kind hearted

direct care.

Now, we have positioned the report before you for your authorization. All

members hope that this report will convince you.

Sincerely yours,

Md. Aminul Islam 111091460

Soib Mohammad Shuvo 111091357

A.N.M Rezaul Alam Bhuiyan 111091224

Abdullah Al Mohammad Imran 111073055

Farhin Harun 111091115

ii

Acknowledgment

This study is the outcome of the term paper writing program commenced

by the E-business course trained by Rezwanul Haque Khan, United International

University (UIU) for spring’11 student to enhancement the understanding and

examines knowledge collect from a particular field.

All the members of this group are grateful to them who have honestly and

ultimately support them in carrying out the study. Specially, they are gratified to

their praiseworthy faculty Rezwanul Haque Khan because of his support gives

them the prospect to begin the report punctually.

We are thankful to the websites that indirectly helped us in finishing the term

paper specially accumulating information. To conclude, we are obliged a

thoughtful logical debt to the elder for part time help, support and priceless

suggestion in thoughts and mounting of this report.

iii

Declaration

This is to notify that the period on ““present status and prospect of paying utility

bill through mobile phone: perspective Bangladesh.”” has been equipped in the

accomplishment of the necessity of the course E-Business. It has been arranged

for academic base only and the statement is completely prepared by us and it

didn’t duplicate from any one. This creative work is offered to United International

University and any part of the report has been proposed for any other use and

the work has not been available in any academic journal or periodical.

Md. Aminul Islam (111091460)

……………………….

Abdullah Al Mohammad Imran (111073055) .

………………….…..

Farhin Harun (111091115)

………………………

Soib Mohammad Shuvo (111091357)

………………………

iv

A.N.M. Rezaul Alam Bhuiyan (111091224)

………………………

Objectives

To know about mobile bill payment services and where about in

Bangladesh.

Detecting the participants in mobile utility billing process

Role of these participants

Security measure issues regarding mobile bill payment.

Challenges in this sector.

Future scopes in this sector.

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Table of Content

Contents Page no.

Preface

Major participants in mobile DESCO bill payment

External bill payment procedure of GP

External bill payment procedure of Banglalink

External bill payment procedure of Citycell

Internal Process for Paying Utility bill of GP

Advancement brought by Grameen phone in this Sector:

Security measures of Grameen Phone Billpay Service:

Limitations of Utility Bill Payment Service through mobile in BDFuture scopes

Recommendations

Conclusion

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Preface

Mobile Commerce is taking a huge glide here in Bangladesh in a very robust way

and by 2011 Bangladesh will be one of the major countries where M-Commerce

will be much more flourished. Banks and Telecoms are the main initiators and

their initiatives are influenced by the Digital Bangladesh Vision 2020 of the

current political Government. Initially Mobile commerce has been rise through the

Mobile bill payment and then its footprint has been extended to the utility Bill

Payments and now coming with international remittance and eyeing to

shopping/ticketing payments. Bill Pay is a unique concept that enables

customers to pay bills through mobile phone shops or directly from their mobile

phones. Three of the Telecoms already launched utility Bill Payment services

fully and much more initiatives are coming on.

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Major participants in mobile DESCO bill payment:

In Bangladesh utility bills are paid through mobile which are electricity bills, water

bills and gas bills. Electricity bills are received by DESCO (Dhaka Electricity

Supply Company) , the water bills are received by WASA (Water Supply &

Sewerage Authority) and gas bills are received by TITAS.

Three telecom companies:

Grameen Phone,

Banglalink and

Citycell have launched the service of paying bill of DESCO

and one company named Robi has opened the service of paying the bill of

WASA.

Grameenphone also have the service of paying Titas gas bills.

In this report we are specially asked to detect the bill payment service of DESCO.

From this perspective there are 4 participants according to our requirement.

DESCO:

DESCO's service boundaries are "Greater Dhaka Area" which means all the

municipal areas and industrial areas and any adjacent areas declared by the

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Government through gazette notification of the districts of Dhaka, Narayanganj,

Munshiganj, Manikgonj, Gazipur and Narshingdi.

Thus DESCO areas also include the rural areas of Greater Dhaka Districts and

the pockets within the distribution areas of the PBSs such as Savar, Narsingdi,

Manikgonj, Gazipur, and Kaliganj etc. The servicing of the rural areas and

isolated urban pockets is considerably affecting the performance of DESCO both

from a system loss point of view and from the view of operational expenses and

service quality. Servicing areas which are separated from the city by natural

barriers such as the Burigonga, Turag, Balu, Sitalakhya and Dhaleshawari river

also increases the Apart from affecting the performance of DESCO.

Grameen phone

Grameenphone widely known as GP is the leading telecommunications service

provider in Bangladesh. With more than 27 million subscribers (as of October

2010) Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country. It is a joint

venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-

profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization

and community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor, the largest

telecommunications company in Norway, owns 55.8% shares of Grameenphone;

Grameen Telecom owns 34.2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held

Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in

Bangladesh. It also established the first 24-hour Call Center to support its

subscribers. With the slogan Stay Close, stated goal of Grameenphone is to

provide affordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh.

The BillPay solution derives from the Seed 2004 idea "Mobile Money

Management" developed by Monowaruz Zaman of Grameenphone. The basic

idea was to introduce mobile-based financial services in countries lacking

banking infrastructure and with low penetration levels. In Bangladesh, less than

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5-10 per cent of the population has access to conventional banking services in

this cash economy. In 2009, BillPay set many milestones. BillPay was expanded

to all corners of the country to enable the people of Bangladesh to enjoy the

service. BillPay was also surpassing more than two million error free bill

payments - a milestone achievement for such a new and innovative service.

Among these two million bills paid through BillPay, 1.65 millions were paid in

2009 alone.

Citycell

Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is the first mobile communications

company of Bangladesh. It is the only CDMA network operator in the country. As

of 1 March 2008, Citycell's total mobile subscriber base is 1.56 million, up 137

per cent or 680,000 from two years ago, giving it the best growth rate of the

company till date. Citycell is currently owned by Singtel with 45% stake and the

rest 55% owned by Pacific Group and Far East Telecom.

By the end of 2007 Citycell had refurbished its old brand identity and introduced

a new logo and corporate identity; the new logo is very reminiscent of the old

logo. However the slogan has remained unchanged "because we care"

As of July, 2008 Citycell has 1.67 million subscribers.

It started it’s bill payment service through mobile by the end of 2010. The

agreement signing ceremony was held at DESCO Head Office, Banani on

October 4, 2010. Mr. David Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Citycell and Mr.

Engineer Mohammad Kamruzzaman, Manager, Procurement and Contract

Management of DESCO signed the agreement on behalf of their respective

organization.

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This unique service can be availed in two ways. Citycell customers will be able to

pay their DESCO bill through his/her own Citycell mobile connection. In addition,

any DESCO subscriber will be able to pay his/her electricity bill at any Citycell

designated Point of Sales. This service will enable a hassle free, convenient and

quick way to pay the electricity bills.

Banglalink

Banglalink is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh after

Grameenphone. As of November, 2009, Banglalink has a subscriber base of

12.99 million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom .

Banglalink had 1.03 million connections until December, 2005. The number of

Banglalink users increased by 257 per cent and stood at 3.64 million at the end

of 2006, making it the fastest growing operator in the world of that year. In

August, 2006, Banglalink became the first company to provide free incoming

calls from BTTB for both postpaid and prepaid connections. On August 20, 2008,

Banglalink got past the landmark of 10 million subscriber base.

Banglalink and Dhaka Electric Supply Co. Ltd. (DESCO) have signed an

agreement to enable “Mobile Based electricity bill payment” service in DESCO

operations area in Dhaka in the middle phase of 2010.

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External bill payment procedure of GP

Mobile bill-pay with DESCO

To avail this service, we need to register through SMS by typing Reg followed by a space and then typing company code followed by another space and then typing the bill account number. Send this message to 1200. For example:

Company Name What to type in SMS Note

DESCO Reg DSCO 12345678Here 12345678 is a sample account number

 

As soon as registration is complete, change the PIN number sent from the System. We can then start paying your utility bills from any Grameen phone authorized Bill-Pay shop.

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External bill payment procedure of Banglalink

Mobile bill-pay with Desco

Banglalink subscribers can pay their electricity bill of all desco zones directly from their mobile phone. Non-banglalink subscribers and non-mobile users can also pay their desco bill from "mobile cash point" marked outlets. ussd technology is used for this service which is more cost and time efficient and highly secured. Side by side customers can also pay bill just by typing a simple sms

Area covered

banglalink will be collecting bills from all the 9 s&d of desco.

Mobile cash points

Around 5000 mobile cash points are spread all over to the designated desco areas. This number will be gradually increased with time.To know the nearest "mobile cash point" for bill pay please call our helpline at 1200 (banglalink numb:er) or 01911304120 (from any operator number)

Desco Bill Details:

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Desco bill details is described below with a chart:-

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Important information on bill payment

utility company id Desco

customer id location mentioned on the top left corner of the bill copy

bill number bill no. mentioned on the top left corner of the bill copy

amount of bill total amount mentioned on the bill copy (amount to be paid)

Brief procedure

Procedure I: bill payment from subscribers own banglalink connection:

Step 1: registration

Non registered banglalink consumers having valid desco account can register

with the following:

dial *777# and provide the following:

biller id (e.g. desco) - selection from menu

customer id - input by customer

After the registration the subscriber will get a four digit pin within 24 hours. This

pin will be used in all future transaction. Subscribers are advised to change the

pin immediately. To change the pin customer has to perform the following simple

operation:

write message »

chg

1234

7777

» 480

go to message option type chg old pin new pin send to 480

Example of the reply sms you will receive

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you have successfully changed your

banglalink pin on 04/19/09 06:26 pm.

Step 2: refill subscribers’ bill pay account balance from nearby "mobile cash

point"

Balance refill:

Step i: the customer goes to mobile cash point and requests the retailer with

his/her mobile number amount to be refilled. the retailer initiates the transaction.

Step ii: after receiving the following sms, subscribers confirm the transaction

from their mobile after receiving the following sms:

"Retailer wants to transfer taka xxxx.xx in your money wallet. To confirm please

type yes <pin> and send to 480"

the customer will perform the following operation and his account will be refilled:

write message » yes 1234 » 480

go to message option type yes customer pin send to 480

Customer association:

A customer needs to associate his/her customer id with the billpay service.

Customers can do this by the following way:

Dial *777# and provide the following:

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select service (e.g. billpay) - from menu

select category (e.g. electricity) - from menu

select biller company (e.g desco) - from menu

enter the customer id that needs to be associated

enter pin to confirm

A DESCO customer can associate multiple numbers to pay bill for those

customer ids.

Step 3: pay DESCO bill by simply dialing *777# from your banglalink mobile and

provide the following information:

customer pin - input by customer

select service name (e.g. billpay) from menu

select biller category (e.g electricity) from menu

select biller id (e.g desco) from menu

input the DESCO customer id

select bill number against the customer id from menu

confirm transaction with pin

When the process is completed the customer will receive a confirmation sms in

his mobile with unique transaction id. The customer is advised to preserve the

sms for future reference.

Procedure ii: bill payment at "mobile cash point":

DESCO consumers’ simply go to the nearby "mobile cash point" marked

outlet with printed bill copy and cash.

Billpay point agent will pay the bill on DESCO consumers’’ behalf and

provide money receipt with paid seal and unique transaction id.

Customers may give their any operator mobile number to get confirmation

sms after successful DESCO bill payment.

xviii

External bill payment procedure of Citycell

Mobile bill-pay with DESCO

Citycell moneybag service is a sophisticated, hassle free and secured mobile

financial service through which you will be able to pay your DESCO bill from your

Citycell mobile phone or nearest Citycell moneybag marked outlets. To pay bill

through moneybag marked outlets you do not need to be a Citycell user.

Key benefits of Citycell moneybag service

Now you do not have to run around to different places or standing in a

long queue for paying your bills. Just go to the nearest Citycell moneybag

marked outlets with the bill copy provided by DESCO or pay directly form

your Citycell mobile phone.

It is secured enough because; at first you have to register in the system.

After successful registration you will get a PIN which will be required to

conduct further transactions. However, you can change your PIN any time

you want by following the PIN change procedure.

You will also get a Transaction ID (TID) in each transaction through which

it is possible to trace any transaction.

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Mode of Service:

Moneybag service is available both in SMS and IVR and no charge is applicable

for SMS and IVR. You can pay your bills either form moneybag marked outlets or

directly from your Citycell mobile phone.

DESCO bill payment from moneybag marked outlets

You have to go to the moneybag marked outlets with the monthly bill copy

provided by DESCO and ask retailer to pay your bill. After making the payment

retailer will provide you a money receipt and mark a seal in your bill copy. Keep

the money receipt and bill copy for your future reference. For the bill payment

through moneybag marked outlets you do not need to be a Citycell mobile phone

user.

DESCO bill payment from Citycell mobile

You can also pay your DESCO bills directly from your Citycell mobile phone. First

you have to be registered with moneybag service. After registration you will

receive a PIN which will be required for further transactions. Once you get

registered with moneybag service, you need to Cash-in your moneybag account

from nearest moneybag marked outlets. After cash-in you can use your

moneybag balance to pay your DESCO bill.

Please note that, your moneybag balance shall only be used for moneybag

services.

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Service charge

The charges are as follows-

Bill Amount Service Charge*

Tk. 400 or less Tk. 5

Tk. 401 to Tk. 1500 Tk. 10

Tk. 1501 to Tk. 5000 Tk. 15

More than Tk. 5000 Tk. 25

*Including VAT

DESCO registration process

You can register with DESCO bill payment service either by sending a SMS or

dialing to 6666.

For registration through SMS please see the below instructions -

Type-

REG <space> DESCO <space> ACCOUNT NO and send to 6666.

Where,

REG is the keyword for registration

DESCO is the keyword for DESCO

ACCOUNT NO is the unique number provided by DESCO for their customer

Example

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PIN change procedure

You can change your PIN by sending a simple SMS or dialing to 6666.

For SMS please type-

PIN <space> old PIN <space> new PIN and send to 6666.

Where,

PIN is the keyword for changing PIN

Old PIN is the existing PIN

New PIN is the customer preferred PIN

Example

DESCO bill payment procedure

You can pay your DESCO bill either by sending SMS or calling to 6666.

For SMS you need to follow the below instructions-

Pay <space>DESCO<space> ACCOUNT NO<space>Bill NO<space>

Amount<space>PIN and send to 6666.

Where,

Pay is the keyword for bill payment

DESCO is the keyword for DESCO service

ACCOUNT NO is the unique number provided by DESCO for their customer

Bill NO is the ID which written in the customers each month bill

Amount is the full figure mentioned in the bill copy

PIN is the Subscriber Personal Identification Number

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Example

DESCO bill status check

Yes you can see your bill status whether it paid or unpaid by sending SMS or

calling to 6666.

For SMS please type-

BST<space>DESCO<space> Account No<space>Bill No<space> PIN and

send to 6666.

Where,

BST is the keyword for bill status query

DESCO is the keyword for DESCO service

ACCOUNT NO is the unique number provided by DESCO for their customer

Bill NO is the ID which written in the customers each month bill

PIN is the Subscriber Personal Identification Number chosen

Example

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Citycell moneybag account balance check

You can check your Citycell moneybag balance through sending SMS or dialing

to 6666.

For SMS please type-

BAL<space>PIN and send to 6666.

Where,

BAL is the keyword for checking Citycell moneybag balance

PIN is the Subscriber Personal Identification Number

Example

Citycell moneybag mini statement

You can get your Citycell moneybag mini statement through sending SMS or

dialing to 6666.

For SMS please type-

STM<space>PIN and send to 6666.

Where,

STM is the keyword for mini statement

PIN is the Subscriber Personal Identification Number

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Example

DESCO de-registration process

You can deregister from DESCO service by sending SMS or dialing to 6666.

For SMS please type-

DEREG<space>DESCO<space>ACCOUNT NO<space>PIN and send to 6666.

Where,

DEREG is the keyword for de-registration

DESCO is the keyword for DESCO

ACCOUNT NO is the unique number provided by Dhaka WASA for their

customer

PIN is the Subscriber Personal Identification Number

Example

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Internal Process for Paying Utility bill of GP :

There are some parties associated with the internal process of Grameen phone.

They are described below:

First, the bill payer receives the bill. Then he goes to any approved dealer of

Grameen Phone who takes the bill on behalf of grameen phone. He receives the

money and sends the money through mobile using a code to the head office of

Grameen phone which is situated in Baridhara Bashandhara. A person who

works for DESCO is always there in the Grameen phone head office he receives

the bill through the code and sends the bill to DESCO. DESCO receives the

money using the code.

Here it the parties who are involved in this process are described below through

a chart:

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Bill payer Grameen

Phone Dealer

Head office

of GP

Person appointed

by DESCO

DESCO

Advancement brought by Grameen phone in this

Sector:

Telenor Group mobile operator Grameenphone and the Bangladesh Power and

Development Board (PDB) launched the service jointly in 2006, to make bill

payment a hassle-free task for the people of Bangladesh. BillPay allows people

to pay their electricity bills either from their Grameenphone mobile or at any

authorized BillPay centre.

Innovative electronic bill payment service

Bill Pay is an innovative, first of its kind service in Bangladesh, which provides

electronic bill payment service for utilities services and for other companies. A

customer, regardless of owning a mobile connection or not, can pay his or her

utility bills and other bills through this service.

Simplifying the bill payment process

The solution is driven by the motivation of Grameenphone and PDB to simplify

the bill payment process and thus do away with the problems associated with

paying bills: standing in long queues, travelling, limited payment hours and

various post-payment hassles.

“This has made my life so much easier. Earlier I had to stand in a long queue for

hours to pay the bills. Now I don’t need to do that. I can pay my bills any time of

the day and anywhere in the country with my mobile phone. I’m very pleased with

this service,” says Faiyead Ahmedul Hye, a busy Business Executive in Dhaka.

xxvii

Mobile Money Management

The BillPay solution derives from the Seed 2004 idea "Mobile Money

Management". The basic idea was to introduce mobile-based financial services

in countries lacking banking infrastructure and with low penetration levels. In

Bangladesh, less than 5-10 per cent of the population has access to conventional

banking services in this cash economy.

Ensuring transparency

Grameenphone is using its extensive distribution network and proven technology

to help automate PDB bill collection infrastructure in Bangladesh. Grameenphone

feels that this not only helps to make bill paying easier, it is also a convenience

that it can make a big impact on and potentially change the lives of a large part of

the population. Today's billing systems are manual, increasing the risk of human

error, and subscribers often have to take the bill receipt to the respective

authorities to correct or expedite the transaction.

Expanded to all of Bangladesh

In 2009, BillPay set many milestones. BillPay was expanded to all corners of the

country to enable the people of Bangladesh to enjoy the service. BillPay was also

surpassing more than two million error free bill payments - a milestone

achievement for such a new and innovative service. Among these two million

bills paid through BillPay, 1.65 millions were paid in 2009 alone. These

transactions have saved valuable productive time and energy for consumers and

thus contributed in the national development.

Soon be introduced in other areas of Bangladesh

BillPay has already earned much attention from the other utility companies and

the service will soon be introduced in other areas of Bangladesh with other

companies. Not only utility companies, but other private-sector organizations

have also shown a strong interest in this new bill payment system.

xxviii

Security measures of Grameen Phone Billpay

Service:

BillPay is a secure and convenient electronic bill payment service. The service

ensures end-to-end transparency and automatic bill payment data posting at the

utility company end. The traditional billing systems are manual, increasing the

risk of human error, and subscribers often have to take the bill receipt to the

respective authorities to correct or expedite the transaction. The BillPay

transaction is thereby more transparent than traditional ways of paying bills. The

security measures taken by GP is like that

Security Management: Ensures the end-to-end safety of the mobile and the

technology chain. Robust security mechanisms built into the system include:

Transaction Security: Secures transactions via a unique PIN assigned to

the customers

Transport Security: Provides end-to-end transport security through all

technical links in the value chain – from the mobile device through the

payment processing infrastructure to the core biller system.

Data Security: Stores critical, sensitive information in the 3DESencrypted

format Passwords and PIN codes are represented as hash values and

stored using the MD-5 algorithms.

System Security: Provides tools and capabilities to protect from risks,

such as staff/insider fraud and vast peak volumes.

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Limitations of Utility Bill Payment Service through

mobile in Bangladesh

i. Almost all public utility service providing organizations have no specialized

Customer care and Marketing sections. These sections are normally handle

customer problems and circulate different service features to the customers.

Top management can get relevant feedbacks of the field level problems through

these sections.

ii. One of the biggest technical problems is the absence of a standard database

management of the utility service providers. As most of the utility service

providers require that the amount paid is exactly as the amount mentioned in the

bill (which might be Tk. X/- and Y paisa), the service provider for not having a

standard database cannot maintain a debit/credit ledger; for which the customer

gets in the trouble of paying the exact amount and not more as advance.

iii. Data collection was another problem that was observed. In case of DESA,

WASA and PDB in particular this problem exists. As the meters readings are not

at their own premises but at the customer’s place, it takes longer time for the

whole billing procedure. Service providers like telephone operators do not have

this problem as the billing is done at their own premises.

xxx

iv. There was an observation made regarding Ready Cash card payment. Even

though Ready Cash card is one of the most favored ways it is still not successful.

Many people still doesn’t know what Ready Cash card is or how to use it. The

reason for it to be observed was lack of publicity.

v. It was also observed that there are approximately only thousand billpay

branches throughout the country and there is almost the whole country needing

to pay for the utility services. So, it is very important that channels of bill pay

transaction should be increased.

vi. Regarding the above mentioned observation it was then noticed that the POS

system of mobile operators does not require any bank involvement from the

customer’s part and it didn’t have any time constraint for payment. If the other

utility service providers could use a similar method then it would definitely ease

the payment hassle for the customers.

vii. Information regarding billing is not easily available from many of the service

providers. So if the client was able to see the billing status on the internet and

then after paying could be notified immediately then the client would know

exactly what his billing status is.

viii. The customer who wants to pay the bill of previous month can’t do so with

the existing mobile utility bill payment process. So, there should be standard

procedure for paying in case of all transaction circumstances.

xxxi

Future scopes:

xxxii

Recommendations:

xxxiii

Conclusion:

xxxiv

References:

xxxv