Need of centralised infra for bill payments: RBI panel

IBPS would be connecting billers through aggregators and customers through customer service points

A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committee today recommended setting up of the Indian Bill Payment System (IBPS) in the country.

In a report released on Tuesday, the committee chaired by executive director G Padmanabhan said IBPS would be the centralised infrastructure connecting the billers through the aggregators and the customers through the customer service points, for management of all bill payments in the country.

The committee said there is a need for developing an electronic bill payment system based on a GIRO model for payment of dues of essential services, insurance premium, utility payments, taxes, etc.

GIRO has been derived from the term – Government Internal Revenue Order however this in not the full form of the term.

This model will enable the setting up of a centralised infrastructure, bringing all the billers and banks to the bill platform through the aggregators. It will also allow interoperability in the bill payment process and enable the consumers to make payments at any of the collection points, which is the essence of GIRO system, the committee said.