Changing Lives vritti May 2017
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PRIVATE RECHARGE
C O N C E P T
Mobile operators globally are concerned about secrecy of women ’ s mobile number and related harassment issues as it negatively impacts their subscriber base and revenue . To ensure secrecy of women ’ s mobile number and project themselves as a woman-friendly brand , mobile operators have started offering Private Recharge service . Private Recharge enables women to recharge at retailers without disclosing their mobile number . Private Recharge service masks woman ’ s actual mobile number and enable her to share an ‘ alias number ’ with retailer for recharge . To get the ‘ alias number ’ ( also called as Private Code or OTP ) the female customer has to send a keyword to SMS shortcode . The female customer receives the ‘ alias number ’ as a reply SMS . The female customer shares the ‘ alias number ’ with retailer for electronic recharge concealing her actual mobile number .
F I G U R E 2
Example of Idea Cellular India customer recharging using private Recharge
CODE 55515
Customer sends keyword ‘ CODE ’ to SMS shortcode 55515
00123456789
Customer instantly receives a 10 digit ‘ alias number ’ via SMS
Customer shares ‘ alias number ’ with retailer instead of actual mobile number
1234567890
COD
*****
RECHARGE
Retailer enters ‘ alias number ’ and amount in his mobile phone to recharge customer ’ s mobile connection
The USPs
Overcomes educational and financial constraints :
As customers just need to send a simple SMS to generate ' alias number ', hence , anyone can use this service . Unlike mobile apps which require smartphone and internet , SMS-based Private
Recharge works with both feature-phones and smartphones . Moreover , SMS to generate ' alias number ' is offered free of cost by operators , eliminating any financial burden on customers . Thus , Private Recharge can be used by all women irrespective of their age , education and financial status .