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Infibeam Avenues receives RBI nod for Bharat Bill Payment licence

December 26, 2022  |  Published by Livemint

Livemint BillAvenue is a unified, interoperable online bill payment platform, built on the NPCI's Bharat BillPay infrastructure to provide 'anytime, anywhere' bill payment facilities to customers across India through a network of small & medium agents to large agent Institutions

Infibeam Avenues Ltd., the country's first listed payments infrastructure firm, has received Perpetual Licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its bill payments business, BillAvenue. The licence will allow BillAvenue to function as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).

As a BBPOU, BillAvenue operates as both biller and customer operating unit onboarding billers and agent institutions to service customers.

The licence will help the company offer safe, secure and uninterrupted services to our 18,000 plus billers, agent institutions and our network of one million agents spread across 2,000 cities and towns of India. It will also help expand into India's hinterlands.

"BillAvenue is a unified, interoperable online bill payment platform, built on the NPCI's Bharat BillPay infrastructure to provide 'anytime, anywhere' bill payment facilities to customers across India through a network of small & medium agents to large agent Institutions," said Vishwas Patel, executive director, Infibeam Avenues.

BillAvenue services telecom, broadband companies, cable TV, DTH players, electricity distribution companies, LPG & Gas distribution companies, FASTAG, health insurance, life insurance, NBFCs, and municipalities, apart from others, as its clients.

"These are exciting times for Infibeam Avenues Ltd as it gallops forward with high growth. A month ago, we received the Payment Aggregator's (PA) license, and now this perpetual renewal of the BBPS licence proves our company's credentials, processes and compliances. We are the pioneer in the biller market and have revolutionized it by providing a single window concept for the billers. This extra boost will help us to further enhance our product and services for our customers," said Mr. Vishal Mehta, Managing Director, Infibeam Avenues Ltd.

On Thursday, Infibeam Avenues Ltd received RBI's letter confirming the renewal of a Certificate of Authorization (CoA) for operating as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBBPS) on a perpetual basis in accordance with RBI's circular on 'Perpetual validity for certificates of Authorization (CoA) issued to Payment System Operators (PSOs) under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

In 2017, BillAvenue, was among the early non-bank service provider to get an RBI-licensed operating unit license to onboard billers and agents across India.

BillAvenue has 90% biller market share within BBPS. It currently processes bills at a run rate of over 100 million bills annually. On an annualized basis, BillAvenue processes bills worth ₹120 billion. The bill payments business generates over 40% of gross profit margin.