iWorld
ChanaJor OTT taps UPI AutoPay to scale subscriptions across India
DELHI: India’s subscription economy is learning to move at thumb speed. As UPI cements itself as the country’s default way to pay, ChanaJor OTT is leaning into AutoPay to lock in millions of mobile-first users, especially beyond the metros.
The short- and mid-format Indian-language platform has made UPI AutoPay central to its growth playbook, using recurring mandates to smooth renewals and cut drop-offs in price-sensitive markets. For users, it means fewer reminders and no monthly payment grind. For the platform, it means stickier subscriptions and fewer failed renewals.
Pratap Jain, founder and ceo of ChanaJor OTT, says the logic is simple. Match payments to behaviour. UPI is how most Indians already transact, particularly in smaller towns and semi-urban areas. AutoPay lets users opt in once and forget about it, while retaining the ability to cancel anytime.
The upside is clear. Subscriptions run uninterrupted, access stays seamless and affordability improves. The familiarity of UPI, Jain argues, lowers psychological barriers to paying for content, helping digital services reach audiences that cards never quite managed to capture.
Yet friction persists. AutoPay is still a new habit. Many users balk at the idea of recurring debits, spooked by fears of endless deductions and unclear exit routes. Mandate creation does not help. Too many steps, PIN prompts, vague bank messages, app timeouts and uneven experiences across UPI apps all chip away at completion rates. Add the occasional bank-side glitch and approvals suffer.
Even so, the numbers leave little room for doubt. On ChanaJor OTT, payment volumes skew roughly 15:85 between cards and UPI. Cards may deliver higher success rates, but they come with baggage. Card numbers, expiry dates, CVVs and OTPs slow things down. UPI, by contrast, is a single-PIN affair. With intent-based flows gaining ground, it is getting faster and slicker still.
For merchants, economics seals the deal. Cards work for higher ticket sizes. But for small, frequent payments, the lifeblood of OTT, gaming and music, UPI wins on convenience and cost. Lower MDRs mean platforms keep more of what they earn, a critical edge when subscription prices are deliberately modest.
Jain sees UPI AutoPay as more than plumbing. It is an access layer, bringing digital content within reach for millions while giving platforms a sustainable path to scale. As India’s next wave of users comes online from Bharat’s heartland, the message is blunt. If you want reach, you ride UPI.
And if you want renewals to stick, you make them automatic.
iWorld
Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour generates Rs 943 crore impact
EY report says 14 concerts across 13 cities sparked jobs, tourism and spending
MUMBAI: What began as a music tour quickly turned into an economic crescendo. The India leg of Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour has generated a measurable economic impact of nearly Rs 943 crore, according to a socio-economic impact report prepared by EY.
Spread across two months in late 2024, the tour travelled through 13 cities with 14 performances, drawing more than 3.2 lakh fans and selling out shows in roughly 10 minutes on average.
The concerts began in New Delhi on October 26 and wrapped up with a New Year’s Eve finale in Ludhiana, the singer’s hometown. In between, the Punjabi superstar turned stages across cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati into high-energy gatherings where music, fandom and travel blended into a nationwide spectacle.
According to the EY analysis, the tour generated Rs 276 crore in direct revenue for organisers through ticket sales, sponsorships and food and beverage spending at venues. Indirect spending by fans pushed the economic ripple effect even further, contributing an estimated Rs 553 crore through travel, accommodation, tourism and shopping.
Government revenues added another Rs 114 crore, including Rs 111 crore in GST and around Rs 2.5 crore in local permissions and fees.
Ticket sales were the main driver, accounting for about 80 per cent of direct revenue, with prices ranging from Rs 2,499 for silver tickets to as much as Rs 60,000 for premium lounge access. The gold category emerged as the most popular, generating more than half of the ticketing revenue.
The concerts were not just local gatherings. Nearly 38 per cent of attendees travelled from other cities to catch the shows, turning the tour into a travel magnet. Many extended their trips by two to three days, boosting hotel stays, dining and tourism activities in host cities.
Air and rail travel together accounted for around 70 per cent of inter-city travel costs linked to the concerts, while nearly half of travelling fans stayed with friends or family.
Cities hosting the tour also saw noticeable spikes in travel bookings. Flight bookings to Chandigarh, for instance, rose by about 300 per cent year on year around the concert dates, while cities such as Delhi, Ahmedabad and Indore saw booking growth of roughly 100 per cent.
Beyond the stage lights and thumping speakers, the tour also created a significant employment surge. The report estimates that more than 118,000 man-days of work were generated, including about 69,000 direct man-days and over 48,000 indirect man-days across sectors such as security, logistics, hospitality and technical production.
Security, safety and crowd management alone accounted for roughly half of the direct employment created during the concerts, reflecting the scale of operations required to stage such large events.
More than 15 brands partnered with the tour, turning concerts into a playground for creative marketing. From themed merchandise drops to experiential campaigns and exclusive ticket access deals, companies tapped into the singer’s massive fan base to amplify their reach.
The official ticketing platform recorded over 62.5 lakh visitors during the sales window and processed more than 1.2 lakh ticket orders, underscoring the intense demand for live events anchored by home-grown artists.
The tour also doubled as a cultural roadshow. At each stop, Dosanjh embraced local traditions, sampled regional cuisine and showcased India’s diversity through his social media posts and stage interactions, turning concert stops into mini travel diaries.
For the wider entertainment industry, the Dil-Luminati tour is being seen as a marker of how large-scale live concerts can drive economic activity well beyond the stage. The report suggests that India’s live music sector could grow rapidly in the coming years as demand for large events continues to surge.
In other words, the Dil-Luminati tour did more than fill stadiums. It moved crowds, boosted city economies and showed that when live music hits the right note, the ripple travels far beyond the final encore.
