Just Dial Services gallops ahead, logs 50% growth

Just Dial Services (JDS), the talking yellow pages service, has posted 50 per cent growth in the last five years in Ahmedabad.

JDS had a turnover of Rs 15 crore through its all-India operations in 2002-2003, with Ahmedabad operations alone contributing around 20 per cent of the business.

"In Ahmedabad, Citizen Communication Ltd is the service provider of Just Dial Services, which is a flagship brand of the Mumbai-based A&M Communication. On an average, the company receives 5,500 calls per day seeking information on various products and services. The service operates 24 hours a day and 365 days a year," said T S Jain, managing director, Citizen Group of Companies.

Apart from Ahmedabad, the services of JDS are available in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

"JDS is engaged in providing information on various products and services of its member-companies ranging from manufacturers to dealers in the city within a minute," said Jain.

The company generates its revenue from its more than of 5,000 members, who pay a membership fee of Rs 5,000 each per year.

"The call ratio is showing an increasing trend, which reflects that the awareness of the people about our services is also rising. We have grown over 50 per cent in the last five years and expect to grow at the same rate in the coming years too," said Jain.

Recently, the company was alloted a special four-digit number '1947' by BSNL.

"It takes at least two years to achieve the break even in this business, as more than 50 per cent of the turnover is spent to pay salaries and telephone bills. In the last two years, more than 10 service providers including Call Me, Ask Me, Info World and Just Call had to close down because they could not achieve break even," said Jain.

Apart from Just Dial Services, the company has launched Citizen Yellow Pages in the year 2001, under the banner Citizen Communication Ltd.