The Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines on its proposed Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). RBI said the system will function as a tiered structure for operating the country’s bill payment system and will facilitate ‘anytime anywhere’ payment to customers. It is proposed that the system will offer inter-operable and accessible services through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes and providing instant confirmation of payment. The draft guidelines said 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. Participants in the BBPS will include authorised entities like those operating the BBPS itself, the Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) and their agents, payment gateways, banks, billers and service providers and other entities as required under the BBPS. The scope of BBPS could be extended to include services that require repetitive payments, such as school/university fees and municipal taxes. Other e-commerce services can also be brought under its purview as decided from time to time by the RBI. While the existing systems are safe and robust, they do not fully address the needs of the consumers/customers to pay a variety of bills. Hence, the need for an integrated bill payment system in the country
