As UPI adds new feature to help customers, Bharat Bill opens up to all payments

The RBI on Wednesday said it has decided to add a feature in the UPI platform to aid payments where delivery of goods and services happens later, like e-commerce purchases, hotel bookings or investments in securities.

Single-block-and-multiple debits

Through the 'single-block-and-multiple debits' feature on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform, customers will have more trust while carrying out such transactions.

"It has been decided to introduce a single-block-and-multiple-debits functionality in UPI, which will significantly enhance the ease of making payments in e-commerce space and towards investments in securities," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said after announcing the bi-monthly policy review.

How will it work?

Das said a customer will create a payment mandate against a merchant by blocking funds in his/her bank account for specific purposes which can be debited, whenever needed.

Such a facility will build higher degree of trust in transactions as merchants will be assured of timely payments, while the funds remain in the customer's account till actual delivery of goods or services, the governor added.

Government securities

The governor said the feature will also be helpful in purchase of government securities using the RBI's retail direct scheme.

He also said separate instruction will be issued to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to implement the enhancement.

Expansion of BBPS

Meanwhile, Das also announced an expansion in the scope of Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) to include all payments and collections.

Right now, BBPS does not have a facility to process non-recurring payments or collection requirements of individuals even if they are recurring in nature, Das said, adding this results in professional service fee payments, education fees, tax payments, rent collections being outside the ambit of the platform.

The new system will make the BBPS platform accessible to a wider set of individuals and businesses who can benefit from the transparent and uniform payments experience, faster access to funds and improved efficiency, Das said.

Separate guidelines will be issued to NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL) regarding the same, he said.