Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit: Paytm Payments Bank Gets Final Nod From RBI

Paytm Payments Bank has reportedly received the final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU).

As an entity under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), Paytm Payments Bank is now authorised to conduct bill payment and aggregation business as a BBPOU, news agency PTI quoted the company as saying in a statement. 

A BBPOU is allowed to facilitate bill payment services for various utilities like electricity, phone, gas, and water, as well as for loans, FASTag recharge, credit card bills, education fees, and municipal taxes.

So far, Paytm Payments Bank was facilitating the bill payment service for its users under the in-principle authorisation it received from the RBI. The payments bank will now display all agent institutions onboard on its website, under the RBI’s guidance.

“Our vision is to drive financial inclusion by offering users greater access to digital services. With this approval, we will further increase the adoption of digital payments by merchant billers and enable them with secure, fast and convenient transactions,” a company spokesperson was quoted as saying.

“Through the Paytm app, users can make convenient payments for their bills and benefit from automatic payment and reminder services,” the spokesperson added.

Conceptualised by the RBI and operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the BBPS offers an interoperable platform for standardised bill payment experience with a centralised customer grievance redress mechanism and uniform customer convenience fee. BBPS has two key components — Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and BBPOUs. The latter work in adherence to the standards set by the BBPCU.

The list of BBPOUs includes 68 bank and non-bank entities such as PhonePe, PayU Payments, One Mobikwik Systems, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Airtel Payments Bank, among others.

Last year, the central bank also allowed cross-border inbound payments on the BBPS system to facilitate the payment of utility bills by NRIs.

The RBI had asked Paytm Payments Services Limited to reapply for a payment aggregator (PA) licence in November last year and had also barred it from onboarding new online merchants till it resubmits the application.

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