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Game to make crorepatis of phone cos

Nithya Subramanian

NEW DELHI, Dec. 8

THE Big Bs and the Govindas of `crorepati' shows have more competition in hand. For here comes `Dial a Crore', courtesy MTNL and DoT.

Now you don't have to go through the long circuitous route of making a phone call or writing a post-card or buying a magazine to enter into the different versions of `crorepatis' seen on the idiot box. All you need to do is grab the phone, dial a nine-di git number and answer 10 true-false questions.

The US-based World Phone International (WPI) has incorporated a company in the country, in association with some Delhi-based entrepreneurs, called World Phone India. This new telephone game has initially been introduced in Delhi and Mumbai.

The rules of the game are pretty simple. The caller has to answer a set of 10 questions and points are awarded for each correct answer.

"There are daily six prizes of Rs 1,000 each for the best score of the day in each city, three prizes of Rs 25,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 for the best scores of the week in each city, a grand monthly prize of Rs 5 lakh for the best score of the month -- one in each city -- and a jackpot prize of Rs 1 crore," said Mr Vivek Dhir, Managing Director and one of the company's promoters.

However, for winning the jackpot, the contestant should be the first to answer correctly five jackpot questions after scoring a perfect 1,000 in the first 10 questions. "There is also a daily lucky draw for anybody who answers at least one question corre ctly," he added.

Though the tele-game is now available only in Delhi and Mumbai, the company is planning to expand to three other cities as well and later spread its range across the country. Mr Dhir was, however, not willing to elaborate on his plans.

The revenue-earning mechanism for the company is rather simple. The company has a revenue-sharing mechanism with MTNL and DoT who are the telephone service providers. "Premium rates are charged on these `intelligent lines' and more the traffic generated, better are the revenues. Currently, Rs 1.20 is charged per two seconds and MTNL/DoT make 60 paise per two-second pulse," Mr Dhir said.

This would mean that more the number of calls, more revenues would be generated. Callers who tried out the tele-game said, "One has the option of going over the rules and regulations on the phone. But that would mean an massive increase in phone bills."

Mr Dhir said, "If you skip the rules then the average call would last 3-4 minutes," amounting to Rs 108-144.

The company is tight-lipped about the number of calls generated per day saying that "this is a trade secret". But it did reveal that no one has so far become a crorepati. Mr Harshavardhan Nawathe is the sole one for the time being.