Vakrangee gets RBI nod to set up BBPS unit to handle billing services

Vakrangee Ltd on Friday said the Reserve Bank has granted in-principle approval to set up Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) to handle payment services related to bills.

Vakrangee (VL) has received in-principle authorisation to set up and operate BBPOU under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it said in a release.

The company offers banking, insurance, money transfer services, e-commerce, e-governance and other digital services on behalf of its partner banks, insurers, government agencies, e-commerce players among others through its branches mostly located in rural and semi-urban areas.

"Vakrangee can now directly handle payment and aggregation of payment services relating to bills under the scope of BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment System)," the company said.

With 70 per cent of its Nextgen outlets in tier-5 and 6 towns, Vakrangee will have direct access to operate as a unit under BBPOU and provide the bill payment service to its customers in the most remote and hitherto unserved/ underserved parts of the country, it said.

"We believe that these NextGen outlets will enable every Indian to seamlessly benefit from financial inclusion, social inclusion, digital India, skill development, employment, government programmes and a wider access to basic goods and service," said Dinesh Nandwana, Managing Director & Group CEO, Vakrangee Ltd.