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Deferred revenue and customer advances
12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Deferred revenue and customer advances  
Deferred revenue and customer advances

 

18.  Deferred revenue and customer advances

Deferred revenue and customer advances primarily represent service fees prepaid by merchants for which the relevant services have not been provided. The respective balances are as follows:

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

 

 

As of March 31,

 

 

 

 

2014

 

2015

 

 

 

 

(in millions of RMB)

 

 

Deferred revenue

 

 

4,766

 

 

5,781

 

 

Customer advances

 

 

2,158

 

 

2,578

 

 

 

 

 

6,924

 

 

8,359

 

 

Less: current portion

 

 

(6,496

)

 

(7,914

)

 

Non-current portion

 

 

428

 

 

445

 

All service fees received in advance are initially recorded as customer advances. These amounts are transferred to deferred revenue upon commencement of the provision of services by the Company and are recognized in the consolidated income statements in the period in which the services are provided. In general, service fees received in advance are non-refundable after such amounts are transferred to deferred revenue.