The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its statement on ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019–2021’, which outlined the measures that the central bank will undertake to foster innovation, cybersecurity, financial inclusion, customer protection, and competition. The Payment Systems Vision 2021 envisages achieving a ‘highly digital’ and ‘cash-lite’ society through the goalposts of competition, cost-effectiveness, convenience, and confidence. The number of digital transactions is expected to increase more than four times, from 20.69 billion in December 2018 to 87.07 billion in December 2021. The digital payment transaction turnover vis-à-vis gross domestic product (at current market prices) is expected to further increase to 10.37 per cent in 2019, 12.29 per cent in 2020, and 14.80 per cent in 2021. The RBI will take measures to increase the penetration of acceptance infrastructure in the country. The infrastructure will be upscaled to at least six times of the present levels in the next three years’ time. In order to have a coordinated approach towards regulation, the RBI shall engage with the other sectoral regulators — Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, etc to remove friction in regulation and ease system operator and customer comfort. The RBI will also consider implementation of e-mandates/standing instructions for retail payment systems, subject to customer protection and adequate safeguards like authenticating payment instrument registration, mandating transaction limits, segments, etc.

(Business Standard)