The Reserve Bank of India has expanded the scope of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) by adding other categories of recurring payments through the portal. With the expansion of the scope of payment facility, RBI now allows other recurring / repetitive bill payments such as school fees, insurance premiums, EMIs and municipal taxes, which can also be paid through BBPS.

Highlights

* At present, the facility of payment of recurring bills through BBPS is available only in five segments, i.e. direct to home (DTH), electricity, gas, water and telecom.

* The expansion of biller categories would increase the user base of Bharat Bill Pay along with providing an efficient, cost-effective alternative to existing systems and enhance consumer confidence and experience.

* BBPS is a platform that enables a customer to pay bills at a single location - electronic or physical. With the expansion of the scope of the payment facility, other recurring payments such as school fees, municipal taxes, insurance premiums can also be paid via BBPS.

Bharat Bill Payment System

* The BBPS is an integrated system offering interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agent institutions, enabling multiple payment modes and providing instant confirmation of payment.

* The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) functions as the authorised Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit, which will be responsible for setting business standards, rules and procedures for technical and business requirements for all the participants.

* The NPCI will also undertake clearing and settlement activities related to transactions routed through BBPS.

* Existing bill aggregators and banks are envisaged to work as operating units to provide an interoperable bill payment system irrespective of which unit has on-boarded a particular biller. Payments may be made through the BBPS using cash, transfer cheques and electronic modes.

Benefits of using BBPS

* The biggest advantage is that a bill can be paid anywhere and anytime. There will be retail points for bill payments, which will be able to accept all kinds of bill payments made through credit cards, debit cards, mobile wallets and net banking (IMPS, NEFT).

* The BBPS outlets will include banks, ATMs, business correspondents and kiosks, and payments can be made securely through the NPCI network with instant receipts getting generated.

* Utility service providers will be able to get payments instantly, they won’t need to maintain bill collection centres by themselves, value-added services can be added by the operators, bills can be generated electronically and disbursal can also be electronic.

* The BBPS platform will have fraud monitoring and risk mitigation systems in place to ensure smooth online transactions.