The Reserve Bank of India’s new norms and guidelines for recurring payments came into effect this month. One of them, for instance, lays down that banks should send a pre-debit notification to credit card holders 24 hours before an actual debit is done. There are other requirements as well with regard to the nature and duration of an e-mandate for recurring payments. What all this means is that, from October 1st, standing instructions with one’s payments provider may not work without some additional steps.
This has already affected certain subscription services, including media and OTT subscriptions, and unless all merchants and banks are fully equipped to meet the new requirements, the disruptions would continue. So, what exactly are these new requirements for recurring transactions? What prompted the RBI to come up with them? How will they change the subscription economy going forward? And are there any privacy implications of these new norms?
We explore these questions and more in this episode.
Guest: Srikanth Lakshmanan of CashlessConsumer, a consumer collective that works on digital payments
Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor The Hindu