Head / NACH – NACH – Bill Payments. Bharat Bill Payment Systems

            Reserve Bank of India today released the final guideline for rollout of BBPS. BBPS expands to Bharat Bill Payment Systems.

            NPCI will function as the authorised Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) to set the standards for BBPS processes which need to be adhered to by all operating units (Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units - BBPOUs) under the system.

At the same time NPCI, as the BBPCU, will also undertake clearing and settlement activities related to the BBPS as outlined in the guidelines.

            Going ahead interested future participants of the BBPS system have been advised by RBI to interact with the NPCI to work out the modalities.

RBI will accept the applications from the prospective BBPS participants from the first quarter of 2015.

The exact date from which/format in which such applications for authorisation/approval can be submitted will be notified by RBI in due course

BBPS or the Indian GIRO in the long run is expected

01) to reduce the waiting time for bills payments  across India,

02)to increase the float in the Billers Bank accounts,

03) to encourage on time payment of bills,

04)to eliminate the activity of bill payments in the billers outlets

05) to save fuel

06)to introduce a new subset of loyalty points

In the initial phase the share of cash receipts as compared to electronic receipts will be more. As the consumers and participants gain knowledge, the share of electronic receipts will increase.

            The Payment Systems Vision in India 2012-15  highlighted the existence of a huge bill payments market with a diverse and a complex biller market structure with varied national/regional players and private/state owned entities.

In the Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2012-13, the Reserve Bank of India announced the setting up of a Committee to finalise the modalities of implementing an electronic GIRO payment system in India.

The Committee was set up under the chairmanship of Shri G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India to study the feasibility of implementation of an electronic GIRO payment system in the country. Subsequently, based on the recommendations of the Committee, a Giro Advisory Group was constituted under the Chairmanship of Prof. Umesh Bellur, IIT Bombay, with the objective of defining a framework that enables the creation of pan India touch points for bill payments by  customers in the country, irrespective of the geographical location of the billers.

The Group, which submitted its report on March 20, 2014, had recommended a tiered structure for bill payments system in the country – with a central unit setting the standards and various operating units working in accordance and adherence to the standards set for the BBPS.

Accordingly, the draft guidelines for implementation of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) were placed on the Reserve Bank’s website on August 7, 2014 for public comments. The final guidelines for implementation of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) have been prepared based on public comments received on draft guidelines. 

PMJDY Overdraft – Preference to women borrowers

            PMJDY accounts are an important tool in our country’s Safe ePayments journey. PMJDY accounts encourage the account holders to move from cash based transactions to electronic based transactions.

            One of smart features of PMJDY accounts is the Overdraft of INR 5000/- for accounts with good behaviour.

            The cooing period for accounts to be eligible for Overdraft facility is 6 months. This means that the first set of accounts will eligible after March 2015.

            In the near future, more clarity is expected on the calculation mode for 6 months i.e A) 6 months from date of account opening or B) 6 months from the date of the first transaction.

The second option is preferred, as this will encourage the PMJDY Account Holders to execute quality transactions in their accounts.

            In an informal chat with presspersons at a PMJDY mega camp organised by Corporation Bank at Vamanjoor village in Mangalore taluk on November 22, 2014, Snehlata Shrivastava, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Union Ministry of Finance,  said that the overdraft of ₹5,000 will be given to head of the family, preferably women, under the scheme.

This is because women have the habit of saving and prudent in their spending, she said.

Link 1, Link 2

Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Ltd launches ATMs

             Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Ltd is the 7th WLAO to operationalise White Label ATMs in India. RSD is basically a bullion operator and was incorporated in 1994.

            Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Ltd has RBIs’ approval to deploy 50,000 ATMs across the country in next 3 years.

            The rollout is in a very primary stage. Over the next couple of months Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Ltd will announce a brand name for its ATMs, launch a dedicated help-line, and launch a dedicated web portal.

            As of now there are no plans for any innovative offerings at Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Ltd ATMs

Link 1, Link 2

NPCI partners with Indusind Bank and Western Union for International funds transfer

                        Majority of Western Unions SEND customers to India reside in U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Australia.

 The major options for Western Union RECEIVE customers are a) across the counter at a Western Union Agent Location or b) Bank account credit.

For Bank account credit, Western Union piggybacked on the NEFT platform. However, NEFT has its own limitations as compared to IMPS.

Way back in September 2013, Western Union innovation team closely looked at NPCIs’ Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) to enhance its customer’s experience.

Due to the time difference between India and other countries there was a lag between the SEND time and the RECEIPT time, even when the RECEIVE option was a Bank Account.

NPCI’s IMPS with its feature of instant money transfer was a very attractive proposition. Reserve Bank of India recently approved IMPS to facilitate cross-border money transfer within minutes to select banks.

This led to Western Union to offer funds transfer through NPCIs’ IMPS to its SEND customers. The service has been launched in collaboration with IndusInd Bank.

The process flow is as under

01) The SENDER opts to transfer through cash and debit cards at participating Agent locations, or debit and credit cards at www.westernunion.com.com at this time.

02)The funds move to the Western Union settlement account at Indusind Bank.

03)Finally through NPCIs IMPS channel the RECEIVER the funds in his/her bank account.

Benefits of this Channel:-

01) 24*7 service

02)Facility available on Holidays too

03)Quick reversal of funds in case of invalid account number or any other reasons if credit is not possible

Link 1, Link 2

No, Reserve Bank of India does not issue Credit Cards

            A small selected Indians have received credit cards stating that the same were issued by Reserve Bank of India.

            The gullible people were advised to withdraw money up to a certain limit, naturally a small amount. Once the amount was withdrawn, the fraudster encouraged the respective gullible victim to deposit a large amount into the said bank account.

            And, after that, the credit card would stop working and also be the last time the victim would hear from the fraudster.

            Yes, the large amount of money deposited by the victim would be gobbled up by the fraudster.

            To prevent such future frauds, Reserve Bank of India on November 21, 2014 issued one more alert to the public about the newest form of fraud perpetrated in its name.

            The alert is in continuation of earlier alerts issued by Reserve Bank of India, on the various modus operandi adopted by fraudsters to dupe Indians of their hard earned money.

            The first such alert was issued way back December 2007.