Skip to main content

What is Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)?

Bill payments is an important, recurring, and at times a tedious task. But Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) has made it easier by offering ‘anytime anywhere’ bill payment solution.

What is Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)?

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

Who are the participants in BBPS?

The BBPS consists of two types of entities –

  1. Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) – is the single authorized entity operating the BBPS. The BBPCU sets necessary operational, technical, and business standards for the entire system and its participants, and also undertake clearing and settlement activities.
  2. Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) – are the authorised operational units working in adherence to the standards set by the BBPCU. While there is a single BBPCU, there can be multiple BBPOUs operating under the BBPS.

Who can be BBPCU?

The BBPCU needs to be a Section 25 company under the Companies Act, 1956 (amended to Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013), having professional senior management and experience in handling central infrastructure in payments, clearing and settlement, and transaction processing. 

Accordingly, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been authorized as the BBPCU to implement the BBPS.

Who can be BBPOUs?

Both banks and non-banks catering to the requirements of bill payments as well as aggregation of payment services can be BBPOUs.

Banks which are desirous of operating as BBPOUs need to obtain approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

The eligibility criteria for non-bank entities seeking to operate as BBPOUs is as follows –

  1. The entity should be a company incorporated in India and registered under Companies Act, 1956 / Companies Act, 2013.
  2. The Memorandum of Association (MOA) of the applicant entity must cover the proposed activity of operating as a BBPOU.
  3. The applicant shall have a net-worth of ₹25 crore at the time of application for authorisation and the same shall be maintained at all times thereafter.
  4. The company must have domain experience in the field of bill collection / services to the billers, and relevant experience in transaction processing for at least 1 year.
  5. The entity must seek authorization under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 from RBI for its operations.

What are ON-US and OFF-US transactions?

The nature of transactions is classified into ON-US (the biller and payment collecting agent belong to same BBPOU) and OFF-US (the biller and the payment collecting agent belong to different BBPOUs) transactions.

BBPOUs takes care of ON-US transactions. BBPCU handles all the OFF-US transactions reported by all BBPOUs and arrive at appropriate settlement for each biller across various BBPOUs. The BBPCU arranges to instruct the settlement bank to make pay-outs to respective billers’ banks for credit to billers’ accounts.

Which billers are included under BBPS?

BBPS includes all categories of billers which raise recurring bills as eligible participants, on a voluntary basis.

Now, even a person staying outside India can make payments to billers in India through BBPS under the Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) – ‘Direct to Account’ Facility.


References

Reserve Bank of India. (2014, November 28). 'Implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) - Guidelines (Updated as on May 26, 2022)'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=9368&Mode=0

Reserve Bank of India. (2021, June 14). 'Bharat Bill Payment System – Addition of Biller Category'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12113&Mode=0

Reserve Bank of India. (2022, September 15). 'Rupee Drawing Arrangement - Enabling Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) to process cross-border inbound Bill Payments'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12386&Mode=0


Follow at - Telegram   Instagram   LinkedIn   Twitter

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued directions on rupee interest rate derivatives. What is Interest Rate Derivative (IRD)? Interest Rate Derivative (IRD) means a financial derivative contract whose value is derived from one or more Rupee interest rates, prices of Rupee interest rate instruments, or Rupee interest rate indices. To which transactions shall the directions be applicable? The directions shall be applicable to Rupee IRD transactions undertaken in the over-the-counter (OTC) market and on recognised stock exchanges in India. Forward Contracts in Government Securities shall be undertaken in the OTC market in terms of the Reserve Bank of India (Forward Contracts in Government Securities) Directions, 2025, dated February 21, 2025. Who are eligible participants in IRD markets? Resident Non-resident, through its central treasury or its group entity, where applicable.  What are the directions on trading of IRDs on recognised stock exchanges? A recognised stock exchange is per...
Post a Comment
Read more

Export / Import of Currency and Possession / Retention of Foreign Currency

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has updated the guidelines on export and import of currency. What are the guidelines on export and import of Indian currency? Transferor Transfer from Transfer to Nature of currency Maximum limit Person resident in India India Countries other than Nepal and Bhutan Currency notes of Government of India (GoI) and RBI notes ₹25000 per person Commemorative coins 2 coins Person resident in India gone out of India on temporary visit, on his return Countries other than Nepal and Bhutan India Currency notes of GoI and RBI notes ₹25000 per person Person resident outside India (not citizen of Pakistan / Bangladesh) visiting India India Any country Currency notes of GoI and RBI notes ₹25000 per person Any country India Person (not citizen of Pakist...
Post a Comment
Read more

National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2025-30

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has published National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2025-30. Financial Inclusion The Committee on Financial Inclusion (Chairman: Dr C Rangarajan, RBI, 2008) defined financial inclusion as “the process of ensuring access to financial services, timely and adequate credit for vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost”. The Committee on Medium-Term Path to Financial Inclusion (Chairman: Shri Deepak Mohanty, RBI, 2015) viewed financial inclusion as, “convenient access to a basket of basic formal financial products and services that should include savings, remittance, credit, government-supported insurance and pension products to small and marginal farmers and low income households at reasonable cost with adequate protection progressively supplemented by social cash transfers, besides increasing the access of small and marginal enterprises to formal finance with a greater reliance on technology to cut costs an...
Post a Comment
Read more

RBI’s Monetary Policy (December 05, 2025): In A Nutshell

The bi-monthly monetary policy of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was announced on December 05, 2025. Here are some of the highlights of the monetary policy announcement. Rates   Change Rate Policy repo rate Reduced by 25 bps 5.25% Standing deposit facility (SDF) rate 5.00% Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate 5.50% Bank rate 5.50% Monetary policy stance Monetary policy stance unchanged as ‘neutral’. Domestic Economy  Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth accelerated to 8.2% in Q2, buoyed by strong spending during the festive season which was further facilitated by the rationalisation of the goods and services tax (GST) rates.  Real GDP growth for 2025-26 is projected at 7.3%. For the first time since the adoption of flexible inflation targeting (FIT), average headline inflation for a quarter at 1.7% in Q2, breached the lower tolerance threshold (2%) of the inflation target (4%). It dipped further to an all-time low of 0.3% in October 2025. The underlying inflation pressu...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are ‘Significant Benchmarks’?

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified Modified Mumbai Interbank Forward Outright Rate (MMIFOR) administered by FBIL as a ‘significant benchmark’. What are Financial Benchmarks? Financial Benchmarks mean prices, rates, indices, values or a combination thereof related to financial instruments that are calculated periodically and used as a reference for pricing or valuation of financial instruments or any other financial contract. What is ‘Significant Benchmark’? ‘Significant benchmark’ means any benchmark notified by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a ‘significant benchmark’ under Financial Benchmark Administrators (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2019. RBI notifies a benchmark as a ‘significant benchmark’ taking into consideration its use, efficiency and relevance in domestic financial markets. Who is Financial Benchmark Administrator? Financial Benchmark Administrator (FBA) means a person who controls the creation, operation and administration of ‘significant benchmarks’ in the markets for ...
Post a Comment
Read more