Mumbai, March 27 The Reserve Bank on Friday introduced the 'Payments Vision 2028' document, announcing various initiatives, including the introduction of electronic cheques and expanding the regulatory scope to include entities such as e-commerce companies.
A facility for the sender to enable or disable transactions on any digital payment mode, similar to card transactions, is also being considered.
A "shared responsibility framework" will also be explored, under which both the sender's bank (issuer) and the beneficiary's bank will jointly bear the liability arising from unauthorized digital payment transactions, the document said.
Regarding cheques, the RBI said that plans are underway to review the design and security features for fraud prevention, in addition to introducing electronic cheques.
"To leverage the unique benefits of paper-based instruments and the speed and reliability of electronic payments, and to cater to new business use cases, the introduction of electronic cheques in India will be explored," the RBI said.
Elaborating on the move to broaden the scope of entities under regulatory control, the document said that several entities play a critical role in facilitating digital payments.
"In addition, e-commerce marketplaces and centralized platforms are assuming significant responsibilities that could have implications for the orderly functioning of the payments ecosystem. These aspects will be examined in detail, and, if required, the scope of direct regulations will be extended to cover such entities," the RBI document said.
For non-bank Payment System Operators (PSOs), a Cyber Key Risk Indicators (KRI) framework is proposed to implement a consistent, data-driven approach to risk-based IT supervision of payment system operators, it said.
The central bank will also explore introducing white-label solutions in the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) and bringing such assisted payment providers within the regulatory fold.
As part of its efforts to prevent fraud, the RBI is also planning to implement a uniform Domestic Legal Entity Identifier (DLEI) framework, which would enable the identification of parties to a transaction.
The RBI is also looking at introducing a 'Payments Switching Service', which will facilitate the migration of customers and help banking customers, as there will be minimal friction.
A framework for interoperability in the Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (TReDS) is also proposed to be developed to promote an integrated, efficient, and accessible receivables discounting ecosystem, the document said.
The central bank is also considering coming out with reports on cross-border payments, which will focus on "domestic trends, global developments, and strategic implications for India's payment ecosystem," it said.
A review of the cross-border payments ecosystem, with the objective of increasing the efficiency of cross-border payments and streamlining cross-border payment authorization to enhance ease of doing business, is also being considered to be introduced by 2028.
The RBI is also looking to facilitate enhanced access to payment data, given the significant growth in recent years, which will also serve as a single point of access for cross-border payment data.
It is seeking to reimagine the card payments ecosystem in the country to empower cardholders and merchants with choice, introduce secure and smart tokenisation and orchestration, and facilitate transparent pricing.