MxMIndia

Tag: Subho Ray

  • Leading players include Byju’s, Simplilearn, Unacademy, UpGrad and Vedantu among others

    IAMAI establishes India EdTech Consortium

    By Our Staff

     

    Leading EdTech companies under the aegis of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) have announced the formation of the India EdTech Consortium (IEC).  Aligned with the government’s recent advisory, the IEC will ensure that every learner shall have access to quality and affordable education, which not only improves their academic performance but also makes them future-ready.

     

    With consumer interest at the core of the consortium, the EdTech companies have committed to observe and adhere to a common ‘Code of Conduct’ and establish a Two-tier Grievance Redressal Mechanism to ensure that the positive impact of the industry reaches every deserving consumer while protecting their interests and promoting their rights.

     

    Several EdTech entities have joined the IEC such as such as Byju’s, Careers 360,Classplus, Doubtnut, Great Learning, Harappa, Times Edutech & Events Ltd, Scaler, Simplilearn, Toppr, Unacademy, upGrad, UNext Learning, Vedantu & WhiteHat Jr.

     

    Said Subho Ray, President, Internet and Mobile Association of India, said: “IAMAI and members of the India EdTech Consortium (IEC) are deeply committed to ensuring ethical standards to protect learners on online educational platforms. IEC seeks to empower the learners by not just helping them make informed decisions but by also having their grievances redressed timely. The formation of this self-regulatory body is an important step towards protecting learners as more and more students, teachers and stakeholders are becoming a part of the online education ecosystem.”

     

  • With the intent to empower consumers to make informed viewing choices

    IAMAI institutes grievance redressal cell

    By Our Staff

     

    The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has announced the formation of the Digital Publishers Content Grievances Council (DPCGC). Notes a communique: “Over the past two years, IAMAI has worked collectively with its members towards establishing a self-regulatory and grievance redressal framework for Online Curated Content [OCC] Publishers. In light of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, IAMAI is establishing the DPCGC as the Level-II Self-Regulatory Body for publishers of OCC as required under Rule 12, with the intent to empower consumers to make informed viewing choices.”

     

    The DPCGC will have an OCCP Council composed of publishers of OCC as members and an independent Grievance Redressal Board [GRB] — consisting of a chairperson and six members. The GRB will be chaired by a retired Supreme Court/High Court judge and the members would comprise eminent persons from the media and entertainment industry, experts from various fields including child rights, minority rights, and media law.

     

    The GRB will oversee and ensure the alignment and adherence to the Code of Ethics by the OCCP Council members, provide guidance to entities on Code of Ethics, address grievances that have not been resolved by the publisher within 15 days and hear grievances/appeals filed by the complainant(s).

     

    Said Subho Ray, President, Internet and Mobile Association of India: “IAMAI and members of the DPCGC are deeply committed to protecting consumer rights and empowering consumers with the right tools to make informed decisions, as well as have their grievances addressed. The formation of this body is an important step towards consumer choice, as more and more people are viewing content online.”

     

    IAMAI has notified the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that they are in the process of forming the DPCGC and has also shared a list of publishers who have confirmed to be members of the Council. So far, IAMAI has received confirmation from 10 publishers, including 1.) Alt Balaji 2.) Amazon Prime Video 3.) Arha Media 4.) Firework 5.) Hoichoi 6.) Hungama 7.) Lionsgate Play 8.) MX Player 9.) Netflix and 10) Shemaroo. IAMAI is also awaiting confirmation from several other such digital publishers.

     

  • It's revenue loss for advertisers, information loss for subscribers, and is just throwing the baby out with the bath water

    The Anchor: Dr Subho Ray on why the clampdown on SMSes is not the best way to maintain law & order

    By Dr Subho Ray

     

    #1 Revenue loss for more than 100,000 enterprise customers who advertise through this cost-effective medium and depend heavily on SMS as one of the most important or only medium to reach their potential customers.

     

    #2 150+ million opt-in subscribers in India want to get the information pertaining to the services/ information/ offers they want and have subscribed to and paid for.

     

    #3 Members of the IAMAI are registered and responsible telemarketers fully recognised by the DoT / TRAI. We are willing to assure the government that we have a capability to screen content and ensure that no inflammatory message pass through our platform and if it at all does then it is very easy to catch hold of the culprit – the way we have been doing all this while for much less evils (example: promo messages through transactional connects)

     

    #4 The ban makes sense on P2P messages as the identity of 95 per cent of prepaid mobile subscribers in India is not certain. But P2P messages are the lifeline of the youth; also, P2P messages can be sent from non-operator networks, and mischief-makers can use these channels if they want to.

     

    #5 As responsible telemarketers, members of the IAMAI are willing to come forward to spread the message of peace.

     

    #6 Members of IAMAI are not unpatriotic or a greedy bunch of business owners, but want to contribute into the nation’s cause in the best possible manner, responsibly.

     

    Dr Subho Ray is President, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)

     

     

  • The Internet Economy Watch data is said to be based on absolute numbers captured from various relevant sites, encapsulating online usage for e-tailing, online travel and vertical classifieds

    IAMAI Internet Economy Watch: E-com continues to surge

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on August 01 released ‘Internet Economy Watch’ for the month of June 2012. According to the findings, the e-ticketing category with irctc.com (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) and airlines continues to grow robustly. It recorded a year-on-year growth of 36 per cent as compared to the corresponding months last year.

     

    As per the findings from the Internet Economy Watch data released by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India), there has been an increase in online railway ticketing and air ticketing. But figures for matrimonial profile uploads, activities on e-commerce sites and resume uploads on recruitment sites continue to show decline. Interestingly in the April-June quarter, the month of May has seen the highest traffic of online users across categories.

     

    The Internet Economy Watch data is said to be based on absolute numbers captured from various relevant sites, encapsulating online usage for e-tailing, online travel and vertical classifieds.

     

    In an email interaction with MxMIndia, Dr Subho Ray, President, IAMAI talked about the factors behind the surge of e-ticketing: “Technological advancement and more and more people getting internet savvy coupled with convenience is the key factor leading to the rise in online booking of train and air tickets. Online tickets can now be booked on the move, through mobile, tablets and of course PCs. A deeper PC penetration in rural areas is also one of the reasons for the rise in online booking.”

     

    On the takeaways for brands and marketers from these findings, Dr Ray said: “The Internet Watch Report is a recent initiative by IAMAI and is out with its third report. Going forward, the monthly data will help marketers and brands to map the consumer behaviour online and devise their digital strategy accordingly – to be in sync with the online behaviour of the consumers.”

     

    Besides e-tailing, online travel and vertical classifieds, in the near future IAMAI is expected to introduce newer categories: “Yes, going forward we would be incorporating more segments” added Dr Ray.

     

    Some of the finding of the report are:

    Online Travel Portals:

    The report states that 5.83 million bookings were registered on irctc.com in June 2012 as compared to 4.30 million in June 2011, whereas airlines witnessed 1.45 million online bookings for the month of June 2012 as compared to 1.07 million in the corresponding period last year. During the quarter April-June 2012, irctc.com registered an all time high of 6.22 million e-bookings in May 2012, while e-ticketing with airlines touched 1.92 million bookings in April 2012.

     

    Source: IAMAI/ Online Travel Portals

     

    E-tailing Sites:

    Data captured from 29 e-tailing sites reports an annual increase in online user visit to spa & restaurant category from 0.61 million in June 2011 to 0.75 million in June 2012, showing a year on year growth of 24 per cent. The branded apparel category witnessed 5.39 million visits in June 2012 as compared to 4.40 million visits in the corresponding period last year. On the other hand, designer labels segment saw a y-o-y growth of 21 per cent with 1.73 million online visits registered in June 2012 as compared to 1.43 million visits in June 2011.

     

     

    Source: IAMAI/e-Commerce sites

     

    Vertical Classifieds:

    While the number of resume uploads on recruitment sites has gone down from 3.43 million in June 2011 to 2.44 million in June 2012, the profile uploads on matrimonial sites is marginally up from 2.34 million in June 2011 to 2.36 million in June 2012.

     

     

    Source: IAMAI/ Vertical Classifieds

     

    Online Traffic:

    During the quarter April-June 2012, the month of May has seen the highest traffic of online users with e-ticket bookings at irctc.com, resume uploads on recruitment sites and visits in e-tailing of branded apparels, footwear and designer labels.

     

     

     

    Source: IAMAI