16-Aug-2018: NPCI launches UPI 2.0 with overdraft facility

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has upgraded unified payments interface (UPI) with enhanced security features and overdraft facilities. In addition to current and savings accounts, customers can link their overdraft account to UPI.

The UPI mandate could be used in a scenario where money is to be transferred later by providing commitment at present.

UPI is a path breaking innovation that is unprecedented globally. Its high volume, low cost and highly scalable architecture built on an open source platform is key to India’s transformation to a digital payment economy.

The first version of UPI was launched on April 11, 2016 and in the last two years the platform has emerged as a popular choice among users for sending and receiving money. BHIM UPI has recorded transactions worth ₹ 45,845 crore and 235 million in terms of value and volume in the month of July 2018.

28-Jul-2017: NPCI receives final nod from RBI to function as Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems has received a final nod from the Reserve Bank of India to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).

On August 31, 2016, 8 BBPS operating units, which received in-principle approval from RBI, took part in the pilot. Almost after a year of running the pilot, streamlining the technology and business processes, NPCI has now received final clearance from RBI.

There is a specific direction from RBI to operate the Central Unit as a Strategic Business Unit of NPCI. Nearly 45 crore bills comprising electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas are permitted under BBPS. This initiative will provide a major push to digital payments as it is a big step forward in formalising the bill payment system in the country.

The total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOU) certified by NPCI now stands at 24. The certified units include three public sector banks (Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank), 10 private banks, five cooperative banks and six non-bank biller aggregators.

Currently, 42 large billers in five utility sectors have been on-boarded. Major public sector banks including State Bank of India (SBI) are still under certification.

At present the bulk of transactions on BBPS are towards payment of electricity bills. The power sector potentially contributes to about 18 crore bills each month, of which only 10 per cent is digital. The likelihood of meeting the target of generating 25 billion digital transactions during the current financial year depends critically on the power sector getting on-boarded on the BBPS system.

The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an RBI conceptualised system driven by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It is a one-stop payment platform for all bills, providing an interoperable and accessible “Anytime Anywhere” bill payment service to customers across the country with certainty, reliability and safety of transactions.