Billjunction's services include bill presentation, payment and archiving. It allows a customer to manage all payment activity online, with advance scheduling of payments, e-mail notifications on pending bills and payment tracking.

"The major issues we address are convenience, security and payment tracking, presenting a one-stop solution to billing needs," said Mr Bikramjit Sen, chief operating officer of Bill Junction Payments Ltd, while launching the portal in the Capital.

The portal uses Reserve Bank of India's electronic clearing service (ECS) mechanism to enable bill payments, allowing customers of all ECS banks to avail of the facility, and is powered by PayAway software developed by Infosys Technologies.

The first and only universal bill presentation and payment service in India, Billjunction.com feels it can manoeuvre its first mover advantage to capture a sizeable market - at least 75,000 users by March 2000. In Mumbai, it already has a subscriber base of 3,500 registered users. Currently available in Mumbai and Delhi, the service will be extended to six more cities by the end of the year. Mr Sen was at pains to explain that BillJunction is not a dotcom in the traditional sense, being a service provider more than a content provider. As such its main revenue stream will be the commissions it charges from both the customer and the biller. It has tied up with major service providers like MTNL, Airtel, Essar, Escotel, ICICI Bank Credit Cards, VSNL and Satyam Infoway.

"We are also trying to tie up with national credit card companies and niche billers in each city, schools, Rotary Clubs etc. This micro level penetration will help expand reach,'' said Mr Sen. It charges a nominal Rs 5 per transaction per customer.

Billjunction is also getting into joint promotions and endorsements with major billers, which will help increase customer response and credibility.

Bill Junction Payments Ltd, incubated by the E-commerce Group of ICICI, was spun off as a separate company in September. While Rediff.Com has picked up five per cent stake in Billjunction.com, the remaining 95 per cent is held by ICICI. The portal has been set up with a total investment of Rs 2 crore and a subscribed capital of Rs 11.75 crore.