RBI to mandate interoperability for full-KYC PPIs

Mumbai: Making its displeasure on prepaid payments instruments issuers not adopting interoperability, the Reserve Bank on Wednesday said it will make it mandatory for such companies to make provisions for letting their customers transact with others after doing a full-KYC (know your customer).

The central bank also doubled the maximum balance a single account in a payments bank can carry to Rs 2 lakh at the end of the day.

Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said prepaid payments instruments (PPIs) were given the option to become interoperable, wherein customers of one company can send funds to customers of other PPIs or banks, in 2018 in cases where a full KYC is done.

"Despite the passage of two years, migration towards full-KYC PPIs, and therefore interoperability, is not significant. It is, therefore, proposed to make interoperability mandatory for full-KYC PPIs and for all acceptance infrastructure," Das said.

To incentivise the migration of PPIs to full-KYC, it is proposed to increase the limit of outstanding balance in such PPIs from the current level of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, he added.

Das said the RBI has been stressing on interoperability to optimally utilize the payment instruments like cards and wallets and also given the constraint of scarce acceptance infrastructure like point of sale devices, ATMs, QR codes, bill-payment touch points. Necessary instructions in this regard will be issued separately, Das said, while announcing the first RBI policy review for FY22.

The RBI has also decided to permit the facility of cash withdrawal, subject to a limit, for full-KYC PPIs of non-bank PPI issuers as well as a confidence building measure, Das said.

At present, the facility is allowed only for full KYC PPIs issued by banks through ATMs and Point of Sales terminals.