The Reserve Bank of India advises that the applications received from banks and non-banks for authorisation to operate as a BBPOU have been processed and decisions on approval or grant of extension of time till December 31, 2016 for achievement of net worth or return of the application, as applicable, have been communicated to these entities.

Non-bank entities whose applications were returned for want of one year domain experience at the time of applying, can seek extension of time up to December 31, 2016 for meeting this eligibility criteria provided they had commenced billing business at the time of making the application.

Entities undertaking the business of billing under the current scope of BBPS would be required to become an agent of an authorised BBPOUs or exit the business of bill payments covered under the scope of Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) by May 31, 2017 in cases where they -

1. did not apply for authorization as a BBPOU, or

2. their application for BBPOU has been returned by RBI, or

3. were granted extension of time by RBI but are not able to achieve and report the required networth by December 31, 2016.

Those entities that fail to comply with the above requirements will become liable for action under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

After operationalisation of BBPS and based on the experience gained, RBI will review the need for fresh applications for authorisation to operate as a BBPOU and also consider expanding the scope of domain experience for eligibility purposes and type of bill payments covered.

Ajit Prasad
Assistant Adviser

Press Release : 2016-2017/536