Bharat Bill Payment System

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an integrated bill payment system in India offering interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment. ^[1]

Background

The Committee headed by RBI Executive Director G. Padmanabhan was set up in 2013 to study the feasibility of implementation of Giro based Payment Systems. It had estimated that over 30,800 million bills amounting to Rs.6223 billion are generated each year in the top 20 cities in the country.^[1]

It was felt that integrated bill payment system is required in the country that could offer interoperable and accessible bill payment services to customers through a network of agents, allow multiple payment modes, and provide instant confirmation of payment. This should also serve as an efficient, cost-effective alternative to the existing systems and enhance consumer confidence and experience.

In 2014, the Giro Advisory Group (GAG) under Chairmanship of Prof. Umesh Bellur from IIT Bombay was set up to define a framework that enables the creation of pan- India touch points for bill payments by customers. Accordingly, the draft of guidelines for implementation of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) was placed on RBI website on August 7, 2014, for public comments, and final guidelines were issued on November 28, 2014.^[1]

References

1. "Implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) - Guidelines". Reserve Bank of India. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.