Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)

• BBPS is a centralised bill payment system which gathers details of bills issued by utility services such as electricity, water, gas, telephone, DTH and insurance companies and facilitates payment instantly across India.
• it makes access to bill payments universal.
• Common platform to pay utility services bills.
• Mainly aimed at those for whom netbanking is not a way of life.
• A framework created by the RBI.
• Any bank or a payment company that plugs into BBPS can allow its customers to view and pay bills. The system comprises a digital platform called Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) operated by the National Payments Corporation of India and a network of existing players called Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs)
• BBPCU will plug in all billers into a central server. The operating units (BBPOUs) will comprise two sets of players -banks and wallet companies like Paytm, Oxigen, Mobikwik and Itz Cash on one hand and aggregators like BillDesk, TechProcess, Citrus Pay and Euronet on the other.
• Customers can view the bill and make payments through multiple modes such as netbanking, creditdebt cards, e-wallets and cash in case of offline mode, and get instant confirmation.
• A bank can provide an interface through an ATM as well.

Source: Economic Times