Bill payment is a major component of the retail payment transactions as over 3,080 crore bills amounting to more than Rs. 6,00,000 crore are generated each year in the top 20 cities in the country. Though various forms of payments are accepted, cash and cheque payments continue to be predominant.
The existing systems do not fully address the needs of the consumers/customers to pay a variety of bills including utility bills, school/university fee, municipal taxes, due to lack of interoperability in the payment processes as well as lack of access to various modes of electronic payments by a vast majority of customers, the RBI said.
In this backdrop, the RBI has proposed Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) with an objective to implement an integrated bill payment system and "offer interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment".
"Hence, it has been decided that the existing players in the online commerce segment catering to the requirements of bill payments as well as aggregation of payment services (in relation to bill payments) will be a part of BBPS," the RBI's draft guidelines said.
The BBPS, it said will function as a tiered structure for operating the bill payment system with a "single brand image" providing convenience of "anytime anywhere" bill payment.
RBI Proposes Nationwide Integrated Bill Payment System | NDTV Gadgets