WhatsApp is one of the most used instant messaging apps with about 400 million subscribers in India and the company has been trying to roll out WhatsApp Pay, its UPI-based Payment Business in the country for a long-time but has been restricted by the Indian regulatory authorities over India’s data localization regulations and sharing of that data with its parent company, Facebook.
The company has reportedly told the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that its payment business (WhatsApp Pay) will comply with all regulations in India by the month of May and as reported by Economic Times, WhatsApp Pay will soon get a license for the nationwide rollout of the service in India after ensures full compliance with all regulations.
According to a government official said to be familiar with the developments, the NPCI originally wanted to give a partial go-ahead to WhatsApp Pay subject to certain conditions, but the agency eventually decided to “play it safe since a court case is still on and it wants to give the approval only after Whatsapp has met all the criteria and the Court’s permission”. The RBI had earlier directed NPCI to not allow WhatsApp Pay to be rolled out in India as the company had not fully complied with laws regarding data storage in the country.
On its part, WhatsApp says it will comply with all relevant laws to roll out its payment service as soon as possible. In an official statement, the company said: “We are continuing to work with the government so that we can provide access to payments on WhatsApp to all of our users. Payments on WhatsApp will help accelerate digital payments and this is particularly important during COVID-19 as it is a safer way to transact for our 400 million users in India”.
Source: Economic Times
