PIL for regulating techfin firms like Google, Amazon; HC seeks stand of Centre and RBI

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the Centre, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to respond to a PIL seeking a detailed legal framework for regulating operations of techfin companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon in India's financial sector space.

According to the petition filed by an economist, techfin entities are technology, telecommunications or e-commerce companies which have entered the financial sector to provide services and need to be regulated.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to the ministries of finance and law as also Reserve Bank of India (RBI), NPCI, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) seeking their stand on the plea by Resmi P Bhaskaran.

Bhaskaran, in her plea filed through advocate Deepak Prakash, has alleged that the "lackadaisical approach" of Indian financial regulators permits unregulated operation of techfin firms and claims that this could adversely affect the financial stability of the country.

The petition has claimed that unregulated operation of techfin entities in the financial sector can lead to financial crisis and leakage of personal

data.

It has claimed that these companies have a "deep well of data and an established international network" which gives them an advantage in the financial sector.

However, they are "neither subject to client/ customer/investor protection rules nor regulatory measures that ensure functioning of financial markets and prevent build-up of systemic risk", the petition has contended.