Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)

  • May 27, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the minimum net worth requirement for non-bank Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) from ₹100 crore to ₹25 crore.

Aim:

  • Facilitate more bill payments through Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)
  • Encourage participation of non-bank Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) in BBPS.

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS): 

The Bharat Bill payment system is a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conceptualized system driven by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

It is a one-stop ecosystem for payment of all bills providing an interoperable and accessible “Anytime Anywhere” Bill payment service to all customers across India with certainty, reliability and safety of transactions.

All recurring payments will be a part of Bharat BillPay ecosystem. The current live categories part of Bharat BillPay are as follows:

Electricity, Telecom (Mobile Post-paid, Landline Post-paid and Broadband), DTH, Gas-Pipeline, Water, LPG, Gas Booking, Insurance (Life, General, Health), Loan Repayments, FASTag Recharge, Cable, Education Fees, Housing Society, Municipal Taxes, Municipal Services, Hospital Subscription Fees etc..

Other categories like mutual funds, credit cards, recurring deposits, clubs and association, metro recharge etc. would be covered under Bharat BillPay shortly.

Key Participants

  • Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU)-National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been authorized by RBI as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and is responsible for setting business standards, rules and procedures for technical and business requirements for all participants. The BBPCU undertakes clearing and settlement activities related to transactions routed through Bharat BillPay.
  • Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU)-Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit aka BBPOU is the entity that is authorized by the Reserve Bank of India. It can be a Bank or a Non-Bank. BBPOU may choose to integrate either with the customers, (COU: Customer OU) or with the billers (Biller OU) or may wish to participate as both – which means such BBPOU will be integrated with customers as well as billers.
  • Agent Institutions-Eligible Entities who wish to offer or those who are currently in Bill payment, collection and aggregation business, would operate under a COU (Customer BBPOU). Customer BBPOU will on-board Agent institutions which may further on-board agents and/ or set up customer service points in various regions and locations.
  • Agents- Agents are the customer touch points and service points in the Bharat BillPay ecosystem available in the form of agent outlets, Business Correspondent outlets, Bank branches, collection centres, retail outlets.
  • Biller/Utility Company-Service providers, who shall receive payments from customers for services rendered. By participating in the Bharat BillPay scheme, the biller will be able to receive payments from third party channels for the services provided to the customer. A biller may tie up with up to two BBPOUs to access the entire universe of its consumers and all payment channels.
Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) economy