National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in the country, has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
The final nod comes almost a year after NPCI launched the BBPS pilot project to make payment of utility bills easier.
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NPCI MD & CEO A. P. Hota said, “There is a specific direction from RBI to operate the Central Unit as a Strategic Business Unit of NPCI. Nearly 45 crore bills comprising electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas are permitted under BBPS. This initiative will provide a major push to digital payments as it is a big step forward in formalising the bill payment system in the country.”
The total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) certified by NPCI stands at 24, of which 10 are private banks, five are co-operative banks, and six are non-bank bill aggregators.
However, major public sector banks, like the State Bank of India (SBI) and Canara Bank, haven’t registered as BBPOUs as yet.
“The real impact would be visible only when SBI joins,” Hota added.
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By GlobalDataThrough BBPS, a customer will be able to pay several bills such as electricity, telephone, water, gas, and direct-to-home television at a single location—physical or electronic. Currently, the bulk of transactions on BBPS are towards payment of electricity bills.
