Delhi (The Stellar News): The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to pay bills in India directly. Now cross-border inward payments through Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) has been enabled. Earlier, payments through BBPS were available to customers in India only.
The RBI has proposed to enable BBPS to accept cross-border inward payments to facilitate NRIs’ to pay for utility, education, and other bills on behalf of their families in India. “This well also benefit the payment of bills of any biller onboarded on the BBPS platform in an interoperable manner”, the RBI said in a statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies on Friday.
NRIs will soon be able to use Bharat Bill Payment System to pay utility bills and education fees on behalf of their family members in India, said the RBI
Experts see this as a positive way as it will ease the way for remittance to Indian institutions. “We will know more about the operational aspects once RBI shares the detailed instructions. The remittances will be foreign currency, and the exchange rates are expected to be fixed and made available transparently. There will be an associated fee, but the modalities of its implementation are still awaited”, said Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar.com
The BBPS is a payment system developed by the RBI and operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It is a one-stop ecosystem for paying all bills, offering clients across India an interoperable and accessible. According to NPCI’s website, BBPS is an “anytime anywhere bill payment service to all customers across India with certainty, reliability and safety of transactions.”
Payments for bills can be made through various payment modes through Bharat BillPay. Cards (credit, debit, and prepaid), NEFT internet banking, UPI, wallets, Aadhar-based payments, and cash are the payment modes supported by the ecosystem.
With BBPS, customers can pay a variety of utility bills, such as those for electricity, telecom, DTH, gas, and water, as well as other recurring payments, such as mutual fund premiums, insurance premiums, school and institution fees, credit card payments, fast recharges, local taxes, and housing society dues, at a single window. To assist customers with any issues relating to their bills with BBPS, an efficient system for processing customer complaints has also been put in place.
Report: Deepanjot Kaur (Under Training)
