What Regulation Is There For Indian Electronic Payment Systems?
As the Internet age has roared on, the rise of electronic payment systems is something that has become part of people’s everyday lives. In everything from online banking to gambling, we are increasingly making transactions with the help of the technology and of course, the industry is heavily regulated, not least in India. The Payment and Settlement Systems… Read More »
As the Internet age has roared on, the rise of electronic payment systems is something that has become part of people’s everyday lives. In everything from online banking to gambling, we are increasingly making transactions with the help of the technology and of course, the industry is heavily regulated, not least in India.
The Payment and Settlement Systems Act from 2007 has provided the central legislation from which e-payment regulation has spawned. In short, it’s allowed for the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to regulate and supervise such systems. Only those entities licensed under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act can issue their own wallets and be engaged in any related activity.
Outside of this, the Act has essentially given power to the RBI when it comes to deciding what constitutes a ‘payment system’ and its associated intricacies, as well as allowing them to create a committee known as the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems, otherwise known as the BPSS. More recently, however, the RBI issued a Master Circular in 2016 that has aided in setting out the framework for the operation of paid-payment instruments, as well as associated regulation of the providers of those systems.
Of course, the umbrella for e-payment systems does stretch rather wide and there a lot of sectors that rely on digital payments to function. This reliance has come around as a result of the rise of the Internet and as a result, spin-off industries as such have emerged. For instance, online casinos make great use of digital systems, as it’s what allows bets to be placed and also the simple art of games being played. Guides such as the one found in this article, for example, detail the way that netbanking has become a vital part of an online casino’s operation, especially since its rise in India since 2016.
In addition, it discusses the different types of payment offered the net banking service, such as NEFT, short for National Electronic Fund Transfer, where an individual can transfer funds to any entity, be it another person or firm that makes use of the system. As well as this, there’s also the ECS or Electronic Clearing System that specifically deals with the payment of anything from bills to insurance.
One sector that has seen an incredible boom thanks to the rise of the Internet is e-commerce, as, without the web, marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay wouldn’t exist. As a result of the Internet’s major success, it has grown into an interconnected marketplace; one that is championed by the likes of Amazon thanks to their monumental successes.
In India alone, Amazon have a 31.2% market share and that is expected to rise over the coming years. This is supplemented by over 10 million users of Amazon Prime, which, with the up-and-coming status of the Indian economy, is also expected to rise as consumers increase their levels of disposable income. As a result, the reliance of Indians on e-payment systems could be expected to rise as time passes.
It’s clear that India has a booming online sector thanks to the popularity of online casinos and e-commerce. As a result, the payment systems that allow these industries to operate have needed to be highly regulated, and the legislation provided by the Indian government in co-ordination with the RBI has given them the power to make sure that such systems work smoothly and properly.
