The current bill payment system in India offers a variety of physical and digital payment delivery channels to the public.
| EBPP | Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment |
| IPG/MPG | Integrated/multiple payment gateway |
The physical channel continues to dominate the bill payment space.
Third party sites and biller websites offer payments through a host of online payment modes through payment gateway (PG) integration.
The bill payments landscape in the country is characterised by the presence of a large number of billers including payment-on-demand service providers or organisations who provide a variety of payment options to their customers.
Majority of the bill payments under ‘Existing Categories’ are presently made through cash and cheques; Major payments in cash occur at Biller’s own Collection Point (BOCP).
The percentage of online payments for biller segments mentioned in the ‘Emerging Categories’ is expected to grow in the next 3-5 years.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will function as the authorized Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU).
BBPCU will be responsible for setting business standards, rules, and procedures for technical and business requirements for all participants.
The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) will function as a tiered structure for operating the bill payment system in the country under a single brand image.
BBPCU will also undertake clearing and settlement activities related to OFF-US transactions.
BBPCU will have a dispute resolution mechanism to handle all disputes arising between participants and also an end-to-end consumer complaint grievance redressal mechanism to resolve all consumer complaints regarding payment of bills.
The RBI, after setting up the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS) in 2005, released a vision document incorporating a proposal to set up an umbrella institution for all the RETAIL PAYMENT SYSTEMS in the country.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organization for all retail payments system in India. It was set up with the guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
NPCI was established with following objectives -
a)To consolidate and integrate the existing multiple systems into a nation-wide uniform and standard business process for all retail payment systems.
b)To facilitate an affordable payment mechanism to benefit the common man across the country and propel financial inclusion.
NPCI