The RBI has granted in-principle authorisation for 32 existing payment aggregators to act as online payment aggregators.
Earlier, it had issued circulars dated March 17, 2020 and March 31, 2021 on guidelines regarding Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways.
Renowned PAs part of the cohort
Amazon (Pay) India Pvt Ltd, Google India Digital Services Pvt Ltd, Infibeam Avenues Ltd, Reliance Payment Solutions Ltd, Zomato Payments Pvt Ltd are some of the companies that have received in-principle authorisation.
Applications are under process for an additional 18 existing payment aggregators.
Application submission deadlines
Per the guidelines, online non-bank Payment Aggregators (PAs) existing as on March 17, 2020 had to apply to RBI by September 30, 2021 seeking authorisation under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).
Another extension was allowed to all such PAs to submit their application by September 30, 2022.
Different from ‘complete authorisation’
The RBI said that ‘in-principle’ authorisation should not be construed as complete authorisation unless the entity is granted so under Section 7 of the PSS Act.
“For the purpose of ‘authorisation’, the entity shall have to submit to RBI a System Audit Report (SAR) along with certificate from a Chartered Accountant regarding compliance with the net worth requirement,” the RBI said.
The entities are also required to comply with other requirements under the Guidelines and fulfill additional conditions stipulated by RBI.
Who can and cannot resume business
Existing PAs that have submitted their applications within the stipulated timelines can carry on business as usual unless advised otherwise by the central bank.
However new PAs cannot commence operations until they are granted ‘authorisation’ under Section 7 of the PSS Act.
Stakeholder guidelines
All stakeholders are advised to transact with only the existing PAs that have received in-principle authorisation or whose application is currently under process.
Further, they are advised to transact with new PAs only after they have received authorisation from the RBI.
