The Reserve Bank has released operational guidelines to facilitate payments among prepaid instruments (PPI) such as mobile wallets, a move aimed at promoting digital transactions.
The guidelines elaborate on requirements for achieving inter-operability for mobile wallets and cards, and norms for customer protection and grievance redressal, media reports said.
According to the guidelines, inter-operability among mobile wallets, and between bank account and e-wallet would be enabled through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system.
“The inter-operability shall be facilitated to all KYC-compliant PPI accounts and entire acceptance infrastructure,” a PTI report quoted the RBI notification as suggesting.
In case where PPIs are issued in the form of cards, the cards shall be affiliated to the authorised card networks.
“PPI issuers operating exclusively in specific segments like Meal, Gift and MTS may also implement interoperability,” the RBI reportedly said.
The inter-operability would be achieved in a phased manner — inter-operability of PPIs issued in the form of wallets through UPI, between wallets and bank accounts through UPI, and interoperability for PPIs issued in the form of cards through card networks, the report said.
The guidelines reportedly mandate that PPI issuers shall have a board approved policy for achieving PPI inter-operability.
Inter-operability is the technical compatibility that enables a payment system to be used in conjunction with other payment systems. It would allow PPI issuers, system providers and system participants in different systems to undertake, clear and settle payment transactions across systems without participating in multiple systems, the PTI report pointed out.
“All PPI issuers intending to implement interoperability through UPI and / or card networks shall adhere to the instructions contained in these guidelines. PPI issuers operating exclusively in specific segments like Meal, Gift and MTS may also implement interoperability,” the RBI reportedly said.
It further said card networks are allowed to onboard PPI issuers to join their network. Non-bank PPI issuers are permitted to participate as members/associate members of authorised card networks.
MobiKwik, Oxigen, Paytm, ItzCash, and Ola Money are some of the popular mobile wallets in the country.