RBI reduces net-worth requirement for non-bank Bharat Bill Payment units to ₹25 crore

The RBI on Thursday eased norms for non-bank entities to set up Bharat Bill Payment operating units by reducing the net-worth reqirement to ₹25 crore, with a view to encourage more players in the segment.

At present, a net worth of ₹100 crore is required to obtain authorisation for a non-bank BBPOU (Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units).

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an interoperable platform for bill payments and the scope and coverage of BBPS extends to all categories of billers who raise recurring bills.

“…the minimum net-worth requirement for non-bank Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) stands reduced to ₹25 crore,” the Reserve Bank of India said in a circular.

Users of BBPS enjoy benefits like standardised bill payment experience, centralised customer grievance redressal mechanism and prescribed customer convenience fee.

The reduction in net-worth requirements follows an announcement regarding the same by the central bank in April.

The RBI had said while BBPS has seen an increase in the volume of transactions as well as number of onboarded billers, it is observed that there has not been a corresponding growth in the number of non-bank BBPOUs.