BHIM apps for Android and iOS have now been updated to support in-app bill payments. Developed by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), BHIM was launched as a simple UPI-enabled payment interface, as a part of the Digital India initiative. Until now, it has essentially been a no-frills digital payments app that only allowed users to carry out UPI-based transactions peer-to-peer transactoins. However, recently the government had announced a cashback scheme for both customers and merchants, with the aim of convincing more citizens to use the BHIM app over tons of other payments apps.
The new utility bill payments feature is available in the latest BHIM app update (version 1.5). Notably, the update is currently rolling out to both Android and iOS devices. In the ‘What’s New’ section, the latest features have been mentioned. The app says “pay bills on the go using the BHIM Bill Pay”. Also, users will be able to save their bills for future payments. Additionally, the biller categories include postpaid mobile, landline, broadband, DTH, electricity, gas, and water.
Once you have updated to the latest version of the BHIM app, you will get a new section called Bill Pay. It is present right under the Transfer Money section. In the menu, go to My Bills section that contains all the added billers. Currently, the app supports postpaid mobile bill payments for telcos such as Vodafone, Idea, BSNL, and Tata DoCoMo. You can also pay broadband bills as some service providers such as Connect Broadband, Hathway, ACT Fibernet and Tikona. Also, options to pay landline bills for BSNL, MTNL, and Tata DoCoMo are available.
Currently, the BHIM app appears to have limited number of options when it comes to bill payments. But it is expected that more service providers will soon join the digital payments platform. Other options include Paytm, Google Tez, and Samsung Pay apps that come with bill payment solutions as well.
