New RBI plan could bring bad news for m-wallets like Paytm and Mobikwik

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

BENGALURU: Mobile wallet company executives last week expressed their concerns to Reserve Bank of India officials over the proposed guidelines for the sector, in their formal feedback to the regulator on them. RBI had issued draft guidelines for prepaid payment instrument (PPI) licence holders in March and several had flagged issues such as know your customer (KYC) norms.

“Some clarifications were sought on certain clauses, while PPIs discussed issues around KYC, especially since it could be an overkill for small transactions,” said one of those at the meeting.

The central bank stayed firm on the matter, said people with knowledge of the matter.

There was no response to email sent to RBI, while spokespersons for the Payment Council of India and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), which organised the meeting, did not wish to comment.

Currently, e-wallets and other such prepaid payment instruments can only hold up to Rs 20,000 per user with minimum KYC. As per the draft guidelines, these PPIs will have to move to full KYC details within 60 days of the PPI licence being issued.

Existing semi-closed PPIs that currently require minimum details from customers have to convert into full-KYC PPIs by June 30, failing which the RBI warned that no further credit will be allowed in such PPIs.

Source: Economic TImes (link opens in a new window)

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