The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das  said that the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), a platform form standardised bill payments, has been enabled to accept cross-border payments. The development will non-resident Indians (NRIs) to pay utility bills on behalf of family members in India.

“It is now proposed to enable BBPS to accept cross-border inward bill payments. This will enable Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to undertake bill payments for utility, education and other such payments on behalf of their families in India. This will greatly benefit the senior citizens in particular,” the RBI said.

The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an interoperable platform for standardised bill payments. This has transformed the bill payment experience for users in India. Over 20,000 billers are part of the system, and more than 8 crore transactions are processed on a monthly basis.

The RBI will issue necessary instructions in this regard shortly.

The monetary policy committee (MPC) or the rate settling panel of the central bank met on August 3 to 5 and reviewed the macroeconomic situation and its outlook. The MPC decided unanimously to increase the policy repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.4 per cent, with immediate effect. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 5.15 per cent; and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 5.65 per cent. The MPC also decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth