Choosing the best bill payment app: a practical checklist

1. Is it on Bharat Connect? NPCI Bharat BillPay renamed BBPS as Bharat Connect in 2024, and apps on the network show a Bharat Connect transaction ID on the receipt. That ID gives you RBI's dispute route if something goes wrong.
2. Fees by payment method. UPI from a bank account is usually free; cards may carry a convenience fee. Google Pay, for instance, says card bill payments may attract a fee shown before you pay.
3. Does it fetch the bill? A good app pulls the amount and due date from the biller when you enter your number, so you don't type the amount yourself.
4. Saved billers and history. Paying several homes or bills is easier when the app remembers each account and keeps a searchable history.
5. Receipts. You want the biller's name, your account number, the amount, date and the Bharat Connect reference.
6. Coverage. Check that your board, gas company or DTH operator is listed, including prepaid meter billers if you have one.

Each channel has strengths. This is how they compare on the points that matter most.

Fees are easy to overlook. DGVCL, which supplies south Gujarat, publishes the processing fees on its own portal. On a ₹1,500 bill, UPI and debit cards cost nothing and a credit card costs about ₹13. On a ₹3,000 bill, UPI, debit and credit cards each cost about ₹30 including GST, while net banking is free for the first payment on that bill. Apps set their own fees, so check the payment screen; on Subspace you pay by UPI.

In Madhya Pradesh, the state's MP Online portal has an electricity section (mpeb.mponline.gov.in) for all three discoms: Bhopal (Central), Jabalpur (East) and Indore (West). You select the discom, enter your IVRS number and verify your mobile with an OTP, then pay by UPI or QR, card, net banking or wallet and download the receipt straight away. It also shows past bills for up to six months. MP discoms are on Bharat Connect as well, so you can pay the same bill on Subspace with your IVRS number; see MP West Discom bill payment.

Under RBI's BBPS Directions, NBBL runs a central complaint system, and every app on the network must let you raise a dispute using the Bharat Connect reference created when you paid. Start in the app you used. If that doesn't resolve it, Bharat Connect's website has a complaint form for refunds, failed payments and money debited without confirmation; it asks for the 20-character reference and a screenshot. Failed transactions follow the timelines in RBI's 2019 circular on turnaround times, and unresolved cases can go to the RBI Ombudsman.

Subspace is a Bharat Connect app. Besides electricity, it pays piped gas, water, DTH, broadband, FASTag, insurance premiums, loan EMIs and credit card bills, books LPG cylinders and does mobile recharges. Bills are fetched from the biller, you pay by UPI, and each payment is saved with its account number so the next one takes a couple of taps. Subspace isn't affiliated with any board or operator.