Hero plans 500 Easy Bill outlets in Gujarat

Easy Bill, the privately held division of the Rs 10,000-crore Hero group, has chalked out plans to set up 500 bill collection outlets throughout Gujarat by the end of 2007.

The company will begin with 58 bill collection outlets in Gujarat, of which 37 outlets will come up at Ahmedabad, 16 at Vadodara and 5 at Surat.

Some outlets in Ahmedabad and Vadodara have already begun operations while the outlets in Surat will be operational within a week. The company is looking at other major cities like Rajkot, Gandhidham, Anand, Nadiad, Vapi and Bharuch.

"We plan to set up at least 35 outlets per month in Gujarat where at least one Easy Bill outlet will be accessible per one kilometer radius," said Dhaval Jarmarwala, head of Gujarat operations, Easy Bill.

Easy Bill enables consumers to pay utility bills by cash at select retail shops acting as a one-stop collection point for all kind of bill payments. Consumers will be charged a nominal fee for the same.

These collection points will be linked up and connected to a database, which will make it possible to track all receipts online. The company will initially start with services for bill payment for the post-paid mobile phones in the state and extend services for electricity bill payment within a year.

The company is in talks with Torrent Power and Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (formerly GEB) for allowing it to collect bills and a tie-up is on the cards, said Jarmarwala.

The company is also eyeing bill payment of municipalities, tax collection, railways, and general insurance in the state.

Currently, the company is expecting traffic of 100 bills per outlet a day. "Once we are able to secure permission to cater to BSNL and electricity bill payments, we expect the traffic to go up to 400 bills per outlet a day by December 2007," added Jarmarwala.