WhatsApp, owned by social media giant Facebook. May not be able to launch its much-awaited payments service until the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gives it the green light.
WhatsApp has assured the Supreme Court that it will not roll out its payment services without complying with all the country’s payment regulations and standards.
The payments arm of the messaging platform. Was set to launch in late May with its already established user base of around 1 million. This number is part of Whatsapp Pay’s trial phase and would eventually be made available to its entire user base of over 400 million.
The recent turning point in the works of launching WhatsApp Pay came when the NGO called Good Governance Chambers filed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a ban on WhatsApp Pay.
The NGO, in its petition
Alleged that Whatsapp was violating the mandatory guidelines and regulatory norms of the Unifie Payments Interface (UPI).
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agree to hear Qatar WhatsApp Number List the public interest litigation seeking a ban on WhatsApp Pay. The petition alleges that WhatsApp has “consistently failed” to comply with the guidelines issued by the RBI and the National Payments Corporation of India.
The petitioner argu that the current model of Whatsapp Pay is “high risk and highly volatile” as two services are integrat into a single app and should not be allow to roll out UPI payments.
Another major drawback is that while other apps with UPI payment feature have two levels of authentication in place, Whatsapp Pay does not have one. Making it insecure for transactions.
“Neither safe nor secure”
Moreover, the NGO pointed out that Whatsapp WhatsApp Number Database does not have a secure and safe technological interface to secure users’ sensitive data.
In summary, regulatory standards such as those relating to financial data security. Data localization. Two-factor authentication and a complaints filing system are all in violation according to the petition.
The Supreme Court has sought a response from WhatsApp
Its parent company Facebook, RBI. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the union government within three weeks.
The government can process the applications filed by WhatsApp in the meantime. While WhatsApp has assured the Supreme Court that it will wait for the Reserve Bank of India, RBI. To give its assent before commencing operations.
However, the court clarified that “there will Bulk Database be no stay of proceedings regarding the government’s WhatsApp payment application. Which will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”
Meanwhile, The Times of India quoted the senior counsel appearing for WhatsApp. As saying that the company had complied with all norms and was hoping to get the green light before May 30 to enter the payments business.
