RBI releases final guidelines for the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)
Reserve Bank of India issued the final guidelines for the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). It is an integrated bill payment system offering inter-operable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment.
Key Facts
- It will help consumers pay multiple bills like electricity, telephone and school fees at a single point of transaction.
- The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has been appointed as the nodal body which will set the standards, and also take care of clearing and settlement as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU).
- In the two tiered BBPS set-up, there will be authorised operational units called Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) with an agent network under the BBPCU.
- RBI has set a Rs 100-crore networth and domestic registration as qualifying conditions for those seeking to be authorised collection agents.
- Participants in the BBPS will include authorised entities such as BPCU, BBPOUs as well as their authorised agents, payment gateways, banks, billers and service providers, and other entities, including authorised prepaid payment instrument issuers.
Thus, BBPS will help track all the payments being made in economy, including cash payments to utilities, schools, and telcos among others.
Related Posts
Month: Current Affairs - November, 2014