Common service centers to work as payment gateway -Governance Now

Common service centers to work as payment gateway

Villagers can now pay their utility bills through common payment gateway

GN Bureau | June 16, 2016

#RBI #common service center #payment gateway #NPCI #BBPS

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted in-principle license to common service centers (CSCs), operating across rural India, to operate as Bharat Bill Payment System Operating Units (BBPOUs) under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), an authorised payment system by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), said union telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday.

BBPS will work as an integrated bill payment system, offering inter-operable and accessible bill payment services to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of receipt of payment.

The license would allow more than 1.6 lakh CSCs, government service delivery points, to become a common payment gateway where villagers can pay their utility bills including electricity, water and phone. Payment mode varies from cash to electronic system like net banking, debit or credit card.

CSCs, a part of Digital India mission, are being operated by village-level-entrepreneurs (VLEs). At present, they offer government-to-citizen services to villagers digitally, including PAN card services, Aadhaar services and election services, and also offer mobile recharging facilities.

These centres also work as an information point where villagers can visit and know about government schemes available on internet.

There are total 1, 66, 671 functional CSCs across India, as of May 2016.

The minister said that facility at BBPOUs can be extended for collection of university fee, mutual funds, and insurance premium. The license may take three months to become operational as it requires integration with NPCI, a press release from government stated.

In October 2015, RBI invited applications from entities operating in payment of bills and desirous of operating as Bharat Bill Payment System Operating Units (BBPOUs) under the Bharat Bill Payment System.

Comments

Other News

Diamonds are Forever: A Saturday story

Saturday Stories By Rashmi Bansal HarperCollins, 176 pages, Rs 250 From the bestselling author of ‘Stay Hu

Oracle Adds AI Capabilities to Oracle Analytics Cloud

Oracle has showcased new AI-powered capabilities within Oracle Analytics Cloud. Leveraging the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Generative AI service, the new capabilities assist analytics self-service users to more quickly and efficiently conduct sophisticated analysis and make better business decisions

Domestic airlines show 38.27% growth in passenger numbers

The domestic aviation industry has witnessed a remarkable surge in passenger traffic during the first eight months of 2023. According to the latest data analysis, the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines from January to August 2023 reached an impressive 1190.62 lakhs, marking a substantial inc

MPs bid adieu to historic parliament building, step into new building

A function was organised in the Central Hall of Parliament on Tuesday to commemorate the rich legacy of the Parliament of India as the Members came together to bid adieu to the historical building before stepping into the New Building of Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha sp

Real action, not words alone, needed to achieve UN agenda 2030: civil society

As politicians and policymakers make speeches at the United Nations during a high-level summit next week to assess the lack of progress on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), people’s leaders representing some of the world’s most marginalised communities have come toge

Fourth GPFI G20 meeting pledges to work for universal financial inclusion

The fourth G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting held in Mumbai during September 14-16 concluded with members agreeing to work towards the vision of universal financial inclusion under the new G20 Financial Inclusion Action Plan. Over the course of three days, discuss