Digital Transactions – Way of Life, Safe & Secure!

The Reserve Bank of India has released a certain set rules for payment aggregators and payment gateways to make digital payments safer for users. RBI Guidelines on the regulation of payment aggregators and payment gateways is aimed to reduce the risk of digital payment fraud and to keep users financial data safe.

The guidelines says that payment aggregators, such as Razorpay, CC Avenue, etc., would now have to avoid offering users the option of using ATM PIN to validate / complete online transactions. Payment over Rs 2000 users would only be allowed to use OTP for authentication purposes. Thus, ATM PIN of a individual would not be accessible online to the aggregator or payment gateway (or even the hacker) and thus would be safer.

Here are few measures took by RBI to keep your Digital life safer
online banking
Verification via ATM PIN for online transactions >2k- Mandatory & Not Optional

Payment aggregators can not request ATM PIN for online payment authentication, as per RBI notification,. Currently, some payment aggregators give the customer the option of using their ATM PIN to authenticate online payments. “All digital payments above Rs 2,000 will have to be authenticated on a one-time password (OTP) basis. However, according to RBI guidelines, the authentication of payments below Rs 2,000 through OTP is optional. The decision is taken to ensure that your ATM PIN is not available to anyone and that your card is safe.”

Refunds shall be made to original source of payment

RBI has also demanded payment aggregators to transfer the refund (made due to the  transaction cancellations) back to the customer’s account from which the initial payment was made.

Now, some e-commerce firms are automatically transfer refunds to the customer’s  ewallet (created on the company’s own platform) and not to the bank account , credit card etc. from which the original payment was done. User’s convenience is looked in as this amount can only be used for purchases on that site of e-commerce and nowhere else.

net banking
Background check of merchants

RBI has asked payment aggregators to perform background checks of merchants.

The notification says, “Payment aggregators shall conduct merchants background check to ensure that these merchants have no malafide intent to deceive customers, do not sell fake / counterfeit / prohibited products, etc“. The website of the merchant shall state clearly the terms and conditions of the service and the time-line for processing returns and refunds.

 RBI is attempting to minimize the chances of fraud taking place in the name of reputed websites by asking payment aggregators to ensure that money debiting from the customer’s account is actually credited to the merchant’s account. In addition, customers need to informed during the time of payment that how long it will take to get the money back in case of a refund. This is to ensure that customer has clarity when to expect money in their account.

Online banking
Customer Grievance & Dispute Resolution

Payment aggregators will have to appoint a nodal officer to deal with customer complaints and grievances. Payment aggregators shall set up a formal, publicly disclosed customer grievance redress and dispute management framework, including the appointment of a nodal officer to deal with customer complaints / complaints and an escalating matrix. The complaint facility shall be clearly and easily accessible if it is made available on the website / mobile.

Further, Payment Aggregators shall have a dispute resolution mechanism binding on all participants, which shall include a transaction life cycle, a detailed explanation of the types of disputes, a process for dealing with them, compliance, responsibilities of all parties, documentation, reason codes, procedure for dealing with complaints, turn-around time for each stage, etc.

Recent Post:-

RBI Governor Presser Highlights :

1. Repo rate reduced by 75 basis points to 4.4%

2. Rev repo reduced by 90 basis points to 4%

3. GDP growth for Q4 19-20 and FY 20-21 to be affected

4. Aggregate demand may weaken

5. Future outlook uncertain and negative

6. CRR reduced by 100 basis points to 3% for 1 year to release 1.37 lakh crores

7. Min daily CRR balance reduced from 90% – 80% till 30/06/2020

8. 3.74 lakh crore liquidity injected

9. 3-month moratorium on payment of installments of Term Loan outstanding

10. Interest on WC facilities to be deferred by 3 months

11. Such deferment not to be considered for NPA

12. Revised DP calculations by reassessing WC cycle

13. All measures not to effect credit history

14. Total liquidity injection 3.4% of GDP

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Reforms in health, education & banking

Reforms in health, education & banking will benefit India: IMF

The Indian economy now seems to be on track to recover from the disruptions caused by the demonetization and deployment of GST, the IMF said on Sunday.

Reforms in health, education & banking will benefit India: IMF
At the same time, the IMF has underlined the importance of reforms in other key sectors, such as education, health and improving the efficiency of the banking and financial systems.

India’s economy has expanded strongly in recent years, thanks to macroeconomic policies, emphasizing stability and efforts to address supply bottlenecks and structural reforms, interruptions of demonetization and implementation of The goods and services tax (GST) slowed growth.

“However, with the economy expanding by 7.2% in the last quarter, India regained the title of the fastest growing economy.” Calling this development a “welcome change,” Zhang said the growth prospects remain positive. “That said, the Indian economy would benefit from further reforms, such as improving health and education, encouraging private and public investment, and improving the efficiency of the banking and financial system.

This would support long-term growth. inclusive and would allow India to move towards the income levels of the richest countries.

Given the dominance of cash in day-to-day transactions in the Indian economy, it was inevitable that demonetization would temporarily affect economic activity, said Zhang, who will travel to India and Bhutan from March 12 to March 20.

The launch of the GST was a historic achievement that can be expected to increase the efficiency of the intra-Indian movement of goods and services, create a common national market, increase tax buoyancy and stimulate GDP growth and job creation, he said.

However, the complexities and flaws in the implementation of GST also resulted in short-term disruptions, as I mentioned before, the economy now seems to be on track to recover from these interruptions.

When asked about the latest Indian budget, which many critics say is protectionist, Zhang said that IMF research indicates that tariffs are generally contractionary, reducing production, investment, and employment.