India spends less than ₹500 on internet packs: Nanu

81% of Indians spending less than ₹500 on mobile data, implying that smartphone users in India are cautious about their mobile plans

81% of Indians spending less than Rs 500 on mobile data, implying that smartphone users in India are cautious about their mobile plans

Nanu a mobile VoIP apps has unveiled some interesting facts about mobile data consumption patterns in India. With 81% of Indians spending below ₹500, it can be deduced that majority of smartphone users in India are cautious about their mobile data spends. In addition, 64% of Indian smartphone users do not exceed ₹300 as their monthly spend for mobile data consumption.

The survey conducted over 3 days, witnessed participation from 14,154 Indians, from 23 key states, using smartphones with data connectivity. 64% of Indians have indicated an increase of more than 10% in their data charges and 21% noticed an unbelievable surge of more than 50% in their data cost.

Majority of smartphone users in India are not aware about their data consumption source. The findings of the report suggest that 42% of Indians are not aware of the fact that their data is extensively consumed by video adverts even if they are not clicking on it. Furthermore, 25% of Indians are somewhat aware of the situation and upset by the brands consuming data through video adverts. Interestingly, only 17% of Indians are broadly aware of this, but never considered its impact on their mobile data expenses.

Even after observing such an adverse effect of video adverts on increasing data consumption, only 10% of Indians have installed ad blocking software in their phones. 89% of Indians have shown reluctance towards consistently clicking on mobile video adverts while 35% prefer to stay away from clicking video adverts. 54% prefer selective clicking on video adverts.

Commenting on the survey, Mr. Martin Nygate, Founder & CEO, nanu said, "With mobile advertising growing exponentially, there is an increasing possibility of consumers facing hidden data charges without their knowledge. We are glad that TRAI has made meaningful efforts in this direction and we are hopeful that the operators will join this movement to safeguard consumers' interest."

Martin further added that excessive competition amongst marketers to promote their brands in order to get 'top of the mind' recall has resulted in uncontrolled usage of consumers' data further increasing the amount of data billing. It's important that marketers become more responsible towards their consumers and engage in non-intrusive ways of mobile advertising to prevent consumers' data from getting consumed involuntarily.

"I used to believe that the mobile operators were unfairly charging us. One month, my data billing increased by more than 60% and I got involved with an argument with my operator. Now, I realized that the offender is someone else. We are helpless and unfortunately, we have to burn through our data plans unless and until we see the regulator and operators acting on it" said Hardeep Singh a respondent from Punjab.

The survey findings have indicated that mobile marketing will remain ineffective in cultivating a positive brand-consumer relationship unless data consumption is made more transparent and the expenses are borne by the advertisers.