Sahakar Bharati leader Satish Marathe has welcomed the RBI beginning the bill payment system in the country. Marathe calls on the cooperative fraternity to join in this venture without delay.
It is being said that the launching of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) -a billing platform conceived by the RBI will help citizens pay their bills even if they are not digitally connected.
To begin with, the RBI has allowed 33 BBPS operating units such as Oxigen, Paytm, Bill Desk and Techprocess. Besides, 26 banks such as SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak and Ratnakar Bank to use this facility.
Welcoming the move Marathe wrote on his FB wall “Sahakar Bharati congratulates both the RBI and the NPCI for launching the BBPS and also calls upon the Urban Co-Op Banks to quickly join the path-breaking initiative.”
“I also appeal to the RBI & the NPCI to jointly work out Norms and a Scheme to enroll Financially Strong, Well Managed and fully Computerized Credit Coop Societies as partners to extend the reach of the BBPS”, Marathe writes.
To ensure the reach of the BBPS to the grassroot level, primary coops at the villages must also be included; as a first step, the Service coops in states like Kerala, which have fairly a well developed networking system can be selected on a pilot scale. The scheme could be expanded to cover coops of other states in phases.–if needed with State’s assistance and support. Marathe’s clarion call must usher in a renaissance of coop movement.