The Reserve Bank of India has constituted a GIRO Advisory Group (GAG) to implement a national Indian Bill Payment System so that households will be able to use bank accounts to pay school fees, utilities, medical bills and make remittances electronically.
The terms of reference of GAG, which is headed by Prof. Umesh Bellur, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, include suggesting the nature of organisation to undertake the GIRO-based bill payments and framing guidelines for setting up and operating the GIRO-based bill payments.
The group will also recommend the criteria (financial, governance, ownership, technical, operational, etc.) for the entity to seek authorisation for setting up bill payments system in the country under the Payment & Settlement System Act 2007.
If GAG is of the opinion that a new organisation be created on the lines of entity like National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), then it will have to make recommendations, among others, on the nature of the organisation (whether Section 25 company or profit making entity, etc.); membership composition; capital structure & contributions by stakeholders.
The GIRO Advisory Group would submit its report by the end of December.