By Simran Jalan (simran@vinodkothari.com)

Introduction

Interoperability is the ability of customers to use a set of payment instruments seamlessly with other users within the segment. It enables a payment system to be used in conjunction with other payment systems. It allows Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) issuers and other service providers to undertake, clear and settle payment transactions across systems, without participating in multiple systems. All the service providers adopt common standards so as to make the PPIs interoperable. This interoperability shall facilitate payments among different wallets inter se and with banks. Paytm, Freecharge, Oxygen wallet, Airtel money, etc. are some of the digital wallets operating in India currently.

Last year, RBI issued Master Directions on Issuance and Operation of Prepaid Payment Instruments[1] (“Master Directions”) to regulate the prepaid payment instruments and to monitor the working of the PPI issuers. This was the much required legislative framework to supervise the prepaid payment industry. The Master Directions also provided for interoperability of the PPIs. It stated that the interoperability shall be enabled in the following phases for the PPIs:

The Master Directions mandated the first phase for all KYC compliant PPIs (bank and non-bank) issued in the form of wallets to have interoperability amongst themselves through UPI within 6 months from the issue of the Master Directions. This ensured fair competition between the different PPI providers as some providers used to spend exorbitantly to get merchants on-board and this would in turn eliminate competition.

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By Simran Jalan (simran@vinodkothari.com)

Introduction

An Inter-Ministerial Committee was formed to finalise Payment and Settlement System Bill, 2018 to amend the Payment and Settlement System Act, 2007 (“PSS Act”). The Bill seeks to foster competition, consumer protection, systemic stability and resilience in payment sector and establish an independent Payments Regulator Board (“PRB”) to regulate the same. The proposals of the Government to amend the PSS Act at length is covered in our previous Article- Major recommendations of the Committee on Payment Systems.
Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) had raised various objections in the Bill and has, further, issued dissent note[1] to bring out into public domain the fact that RBI is not happy with the government’s attempt to take control of payment and settlement systems.

Dissent of RBI

The RBI has given the dissent on the following recommendations of the committee:

• On composition of PRB

RBI has contended that there has been a major departure with respect to composition of the PRB from what was proposed under the Finance Bill, 2017. Initially, the Finance Bill proposed that the PRB shall be constituted with the Governor of RBI as the Chairman, however, the PSS Bill states that the Chairman of the PRB shall be appointed by the Government in consultation with the RBI.

Further, the Finance Bill, 2017 suggested that the PRB must be built into the overall framework and the RBI, however, the PSS Bill states that the PRB shall be an independent body. Payment and settlement system being a sub-set of the currency management system, keeping the PRB independent of RBI would not be appropriate. The Monetary Policy has a huge impact on the payment systems and therefore, the power to regulate the payment systems should be with the monetary authority.

The Bill also provides for a formal mechanism for co-ordination between PRB and RBI. The RBI is of a view that the operations of PRB should be integrated and not co-ordinated with RBI.

Further, banks are the most important parties of the payment systems, RBI being the banking regulator makes it logical to keep integrate PRB within the operations of the RBI.

It will additionally provide holistic benefits since a single regulator will decrease the compliance costs as compared to the costs incurred if there are multiple regulators and will be more effective.

Further, the Bill stated that it was necessary to distinguish the role of the Central Bank as an infrastructure institution providing settlement function from its role as a regulator of the payment sector. In respect to this statement, RBI commented that the payment systems are nothing but digital substitutes of currency. RBI creates currency and distributes them through banks. Major concern of RBI was that the non-banks were ascribed the job of creating money via payment systems.

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