IRCTC to foray into payments sector

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) can now apply with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a license as a payment aggregator.

IRCTC recently secured an approval from the Registrar of Companies, NCT, Delhi and Haryana to alter the Main Objects Clause of the Memorandum of Association and insert a new clause to act as a payment aggregator.

The Railway PSU is all set to take entry into the payments sector and is eyeing a payment aggregator license. Currently, IRCTC has I-PAY, its in-house payment gateway. I-PAY enables payments for booking tickets of rail, bus and air travel, and tour packages on the IRCTC website and mobile app.

Currently, all Non-Bank Payment Aggregators require authorisation from RBI under Payment and Settlement System Act, 2007, and the Memorandum of Association (MoA) of the applicant entity must cover the proposed activity of operating as a payment aggregator.

The IRCTC gateway will also function as a bill payment gateway to provide bill payment services for utility bills, fees and municipal taxes under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) guidelines. The application process and approval from the RBI may take some time. The application process and approval from the RBI may take some time.