RBI reduces net-worth requirement for non-bank Bharat Bill Payment units

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 Rs 25 crore, with a view to encourage more players in the segment.

At present, a net worth of Rs 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 Rs 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.

The requirement of Rs 100 crore net worth for a non-bank BBPOU to obtain authorisation was viewed as a constraint to greater participation, it had said.

To increase participation, the RBI had decided to align the net worth requirement of non-bank BBPOUs with that of other nonbank participants which handle customer funds (like payment aggregators) and have a similar risk profile.