Eye on non-bank payment players, RBI widens BBPS

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday expanded the scope of the Bharat Bill Payment Systems (BBPS) as part of an attempt to enable non-bank payment aggregators (PAS) to participate in the system as operating units and encourage greater participation.

BBPS is an integrated bill payment platform that enables payment and collection of bills through multiple channels including mobile apps, bank branches, among others. Various payment methods such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), internet banking, prepaid payment instruments (PPIS), among others can be used to pay bills.

The banking regulator said entities that are authorised to operate as PAS, including those who have been granted in-principle authorisation, can participate in BBPS as operating units. These revised directions shall be called the Reserve Bank of India (Bharat Bill Payment System) Directions, 2024, and will be applicable from April 1 this year.

“In view of significant developments in the payments landscape, a need was felt to review and update these regulations. Accordingly, as announced in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated June 08, 2023, it has been decided to put in place a revised regulatory framework - Bharat Bill Payment Systems Directions, 2024,” the central bank said in a press release.

Currently, 18 firms including Razorpay, Cashfree, Amazon Pay, among others have received a final RBI nod to operate as payment aggregators. The regulator has granted in-principle authorisation to 32 entities to operate as PAS. A person privy to the developmentsaid that the latest guidelines ease the participation for companies who would like to become operating units on BBPS.