National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) today said it has received final approval from the Reserve Bank to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and operate Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
"Nearly 45 crore bills, which comprise electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas, are permitted under BBPS. This initiative will provide a major push to digital payments as it is a big step forward in formalising the bill payment system in the country," NPCI managing director and CEO A P Hota said in a statement here.
Last year in August, eight BBPS operating units, which received in-principle approval from the RBI, took part in the pilot, it said.
Almost after a year of running the pilot, NPCI has now received the final clearance from RBI.
The total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) certified by NPCI now stands at 24.
The certified units include three public sector banks - Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank - 10 private lenders, five cooperative banks and 6 non-bank biller aggregators.
At present, the bulk of transactions on BBPS are towards payment of electricity bills.
The power sector potentially contributes to about 18 crore bills per month out of which only 10 per cent is digital.
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