Indian technology company Vakrangee has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a new bill payments unit.

Vakrangee can now set up and operate Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007 from RBI, the country’s central bank.

The company will now be able to handle payment services related to bills.

Vakrangee offers banking, insurance, money transfer services, e-commerce, e-governance, and other digital services on behalf of its partner banks, insurers, government agencies, e-commerce players among others.

The company operates through its branches, which are mainly located in rural and semi-urban areas across the country.

In a statement, Vakrangee said: “Vakrangee can now directly handle payment and aggregation of payment services relating to bills under the scope of Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).”

Vakrangee said that 70% of its NextGen outlets are based in tier-5 and 6 towns, where it will have direct access to operate as a unit of BBPOU.

It will provide bill payment services to its customers in the most remote and previously underserved areas across the country.

Vakrangee managing director and group CEO Dinesh Nandwana said: “We believe that these NextGen outlets will enable every Indian to seamlessly benefit from financial inclusion, social inclusion, digital India, skill development, employment, government programmes and wider access to basic goods and services.”

RBI’s nod allows the company to offer a bunch of services to Indians via its ‘Vakrangee Kendras’.

Currently, Vakrangee has more than 34,200 such outlets, of which more than 10,000 are operational and the remaining 24,200 are under the onboarding process.

These outlets are located across 32 states and union territories, serving more than 560 districts and as many as 7,250 postal codes.

This year, Vakrangee aims to establish at least 25,000 Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras.