Over 20,000 billers are part of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), and more than 8 crore transactions are processed on a monthly basis. It is now proposed to enable BBPS to accept cross-border inward bill payments. This will enable non-resident Indians (NRIs) to undertake bill payments for utility, education and other such payments on behalf of their families in India, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das while announcing the monetary policy on Friday.
This move will greatly benefit the senior citizens in particular. BPPS has transformed the bill payment experience for users in India, Das noted.
CICs included under RB-IOS framework
The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) has improved the customer grievance redress mechanism. The turnaround time of grievance redress under RB-IOS has declined considerably. In order to make the RB-IOS more broad-based, it has been decided to include Credit Information Companies (CICs) under the RB-IOS framework. This will provide a cost-free alternative redress mechanism for grievances against CICs. Further, with a view to strengthen the internal grievance redress by CICs themselves, it has been decided to mandate the CICs to have their own internal Ombudsman (IO) framework.
Committee on MIBOR Benchmark
The RBI has been taking measures, from time to time, to develop the interest rate derivatives (IRD) market in India, which have led to diversification of the participant base and increased use of IRD instruments, such as the Mumbai Interbank Outright Rate (MIBOR) overnight indexed swap (OIS) contracts. In view of the recent international efforts to develop alternative benchmark rates, it is proposed to set up a committee to undertake an in-depth examination of the issues, including the need for transition to an alternative benchmark for MIBOR, and suggest the way forward.
