SUMMARY
The RBI said that the directive has been issued to minimise concentration risk in the UPI system
The NPCI will now examine Paytm’s request for TPAP licence and, accordingly, will take a call on the matter
The development comes as the deadline inches closer for implementation of the business restrictions imposed by the RBI on Paytm Payments Bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to examine Paytm’s request to become a third-party application provider for UPI payments.
“National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been advised by the RBI to examine the request of One97 Communication to become a third-party application provider (TPAP) for UPI channel for continued UPI operation of the Paytm app, as per the norms,” the central bank said in a statement on Friday (February 23).
As per the RBI, the directive has been issued to ensure seamless digital payments by UPI customers using ‘@paytm’ handle (operated by the Paytm Payments Bank) and minimise concentration risk in the UPI system.
The development comes as the deadline inches closer for implementation of the business restrictions imposed by the RBI on Paytm Payments Bank. The central bank has set the March 15 deadline for the payments bank to stop all deposits or credit transactions or top-ups in any of its customer accounts.
(This is a breaking story, will be updated soon.)