Now Recharge & Pay Bills via SMS on your Tata Indicom Mobile

Partnership with mChek enables unique service in Indian telecom space.

Tata Teleservices Limited, India’s fastest-growing pan-India telecom service provider, today announced the launch of pre-paid top-up and post-paid bill payment services on SMS, powered by mCheck. Tata Indicom subscribers can now use this service by sending an SMS ‘PAY TATA’ to 59909 from their TATA Indicom mobile phones. The payment can be made using any valid credit card issued by any bank in India, be it a VISA or a Mastercard.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Zubin Jimmy Dubash, Additional Vice-President for Value Added Services, Tata Indicom, said: “At Tata Indicom, we have been constantly striving to provide convenient and easy-to-use services to our subscribers. The launch of this service is an example of our commitment to provide simplicity and control in the hands of our customers.”

To use the service, subscribers will send an SMS, “PAY TATA”, to 59909 from their Tata Indicom mobile phone and will receive an automated call back on the phone to register their credit card and approve the transaction. The transaction is approved by using the 6-digit mChek PIN number which the user creates on the phone, and this is not shared with anyone else. Subscribers can pay their post-paid bills or recharge their pre-paid accounts with this service and an SMS receipt is sent to the phone on completion of the transaction. TATA Indicom subscribers can also recharge and pay bills of their friends and family members using this service.

Mr. Sanjay Swamy, Chief Executive Officer of mChek, said: “We are confident that mChek’s mobile payment platform will see a huge uptake among Tata Indicom subscribers, driven by the convenience of paying bills or re-charging pre-paid connections with just an SMS. Our association with Tata Indicom will help us extend our mobile payment solution to an additional 34 million subscribers across the country.”

Quick Steps for Bill Payment

Step 1: Customer sends the SMS ‘PAY TATA <Amount>’ to 59909

Step 2: Customer gets an automated call-back from mChek, and enters 6-digit mChek PIN

Step 3: Transaction is completed and an SMS receipt is sent to user. The payment information is updated on the Tata Indicom system

Registration: First-time users will be asked to register their Visa or Mastercard credit cards by entering the card number, CVV and expiry date. Users can also register on www.mchek.com

About Tata Teleservices Limited:
Tata Teleservices Limited is one of India's leading private telecom service providers, having a pan-India presence. The company offers integrated telecom solutions to its customers under the Tata Indicom brand, and uses the latest technology platform(s) for its wireless network. With a customer base of nearly 34 million, Tata Teleservices Limited, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited, covers over 320,000 towns and villages across all of India’s 22 telecom circles. In November 2008, Tata Teleservices entered into an agreement with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO, as part of which the Japanese company acquired a 26% stake in TTSL for USD 2.7 billion. The transaction marks a key step in the strategic evolution of Tata Teleservices, as it moves towards a pan-India dual network presence. The company also recently announced a unique reverse equity swap strategic agreement between its fully-owned telecom tower subsidiary, Wireless TT Info-Services Limited, and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited—with the combined entity kicking off operations with 18,000 towers, thereby becoming the largest independent entity in this space in the country. Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes mobile services, wireless desktop phones, public booth telephony and wireline services.

About mChek
Bangalore-based mChek (www.mchek.com) provides patent-pending, mobile-based, security and payment services enabling users to transact through their mobile for wide-ranging day-to-day requirements including payment of utility bills and insurance policies, movie & travel ticketing, prepaid recharge and post-paid bill payment. Consumers can sign up at www.mchek.com or by sending an sms ‘MCHEK’ to 59909 (toll-free) from their Tata Indicom phones or by sending an sms ‘MCHEK’ to 543219 (toll-free) from their Airtel phones.