Prepayments, receivables and other assets (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of components of prepayments, receivables and other assets

	As of March 31,
	2023		2024
	RMB		RMB
	(in millions)
Current:
Accounts receivable and contract assets, net of allowance		32,134		30,686
Inventories		28,547		25,460
VAT receivables, net of allowance		17,497		19,904
Prepaid cost of revenue, sales and marketing and other expenses		16,794		17,784
Advances to/receivables from customers, merchants and others		14,499		11,508
Amounts due from related companies		9,042		8,257
Interest receivables		5,471		10,055
Deferred direct selling costs and cost of revenue (i)		4,771		6,482
Others		8,317		13,400
		137,072		143,536
Non-current:
Operating lease right-of-use assets		77,428		76,927
Deferred tax assets (Note 7)		15,494		11,361
Film costs and prepayment for licensed copyrights and others		8,905		12,073
Prepayment for acquisition of property and equipment		3,976		11,345
Others		5,123		4,396
		110,926		116,102

(i)The Company is obligated to pay certain costs upon the receipt of membership fees from merchants or other customers, which primarily consist of sales commissions, and certain costs associated with cloud services. The membership fees and cloud services revenue are initially deferred and recognized as revenue in the consolidated income statements in the period in which the services are rendered. As such, the related costs are also initially deferred and recognized in the consolidated income statements in the same period as the related service fees and revenue are recognized.