PCI gives its regards to the RBI for extending PPI conversions

The Payments Council of India (PCI) which represents the players in the payments and settlement systems thanks the regulator for the extension of timeline for the conversion of minimum detail PPIs to KYC compliant PPIs from 18 months to 24 months. It further expresses its gratefulness for the continued support of RBI in providing a favourable regulatory environment for the growth and development of the PPI industry, which processed more than 4 billion transactions in the year ending March 2019.

Mahendra Nerurkar, Co-chair of the PPI committee at PCI and CEO, Amazon pay says, "We thank the RBI for this extension. We hope that the industry will have a true remote digital solution for KYC for PPIs. PPI plays a unique role as it allows cash customers to enter the digital economy through a convenient and trusted payment experience. This instrument cannot be replaced by alternate digital payment methods which are more conducive for digital native citizens.”

PCI further states that the PPI industry hopes that the government will soon come up with the clarity on e-KYC via Aadhar or any other remote fully non-face to face digital KYC method in order to enable the PPI industry players to perform this task of full KYC conversion effectively and efficiently under the given timelines as well as in a fast track manner. The industry is keen to support the regulator and the government on the front of safe and secure digitization of India, which may only be achieved with the availability of any digital medium of doing KYC of customers using PPIs.

These guidelines of digital KYC may be issued in a uniform format with certain required technical capabilities/ checks & balances regarding the robustness of the infrastructure/ system being used by the PPI industry and subject to timely audits by the certified auditor in the field along with other appropriate terms and conditions as may be deemed fit& necessary by the regulator so as to ensure maximum safety.