An Analysis of Extent of Use of Online Utility Services in Punjab, India

Aim: To analyze the extent of use of online utility services.

Study Design: Descriptive survey research design.

Place and Duration of Study: Rural (Doraha and Sidhwan Bet block), peri-urban (Ayali Kalan, Sunet and Threeke villages of Ludhiana I block) and urban areas of Ludhiana district, between August 2018 to May 2019.

Methodology: Using a structured interview schedule, data was collected randomly from 180 respondents having sixty online utility service users each from rural, peri-urban and urban areas of Ludhiana district of Punjab, India. The statistical tools such as frequency distribution, percentage, arithmetic mean, category interval method, Kruskal Wallis H-test for k independent samples and cumulative cube root frequency method were used for the analysis of data along with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software.

Results: Overall, higher percentage of the respondents had moderate to high extent of use of online utility services and were using them for bill payment, online/mobile banking, entertainment, online shopping and for other miscellaneous services.

Conclusion: Extent of use of different online utility services was comparatively higher among urban respondents.