reserve bank of india

3Dec By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INDIA

Indian govt & RBI may Allow use of QR code-based offline Aadhaar

The Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are in talks to allow use of 'offline Aadhaar' that relies on QR codes. This would replace the biometric eKYC, for opening bank accounts, operating payment wallets and purchasing insurance covers. This particular move is significant as it will also benefit financial technology companies that have been prodding the government to amend the law to make Aadhaar mandatory. It's an option that the Centre has virtually ruled out for the moment. The SC has ruled that Aadhaar-based verification could not be done by private firms. Since the use of offline Aadhaar has to be facilitated by the RBI, the central bank needs to bring out a circular and has held two-three rounds of discussions with UIDAI. The court had ruled that Aadhaar could...

Mumbai-based Fino Payment Bank Fined with Rs 1 Crore by the RBI

7Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INDIA

Mumbai-based Fino Payment Bank Fined with Rs 1 Crore by the RBI

The newly licensed payments bank based in Mumbai called Fino Payment Bank has been fined with an amount of Rs 1 crore by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Following this move, the payments bank was required to stop all its account opening activities. The RBI found out that there were few accounts with the bank with deposits in excess of Rs 1 lakh, which goes against the licensing criteria of a payments bank. “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, on October 31, 2018, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on Fino Payments Bank Limited (the bank) for contravention of the direction to stop opening of new accounts until further instructions…,” said the regulator. A Fino Payments Bank spokesperson stated that the RBI has directed Fino Payments Bank to put in place appropriate process to a...

PayU Recieved Licence from RBI to open its own NBFC

17Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

PayU Recieved Licence from RBI to open its own NBFC

PayU India has received a license from the Reserve Bank of India to operate its own non-banking financial company, a development that will provide a big boost to the fintech firm in growing its consumer credit business. PayU India managing director Jitendra Gupta will head the new initiative. The NBFC, PayU Credit, which will be a subsidiary of PayU, is the latest offering from the company that looks to expand its suite of credit-focused offerings. “With payments, we have access to data, and we generate data… For us, when we look at the market, the new aspirational class coming in, they need access to financing. We give financing to the consumer, which, in turn, reinforces business with merchants… This is not a market where one company can dominate,” le Moal said. PayU India processes...

RBI Orders Paytm Payments Bank to Stop Enrolling New Customers

1Aug By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

RBI Orders Paytm Payments Bank to Stop Enrolling New Customers

Following observations made by the Reserve Bank of India, Paytm Payments Bank has ceased the enrolment of new customers on its platform. This happened on 20th June post audit by RBI, which made particular observations about the procedure the company follows in taking over new customers and its adherence to know-your-customer (KYC) norms. Along with this, Paytm was also recently told to remove Renu Satti as the CEO of the payments bank, where the Reserve Bank of India raised objections about her ability to lead a banking services firm. RBI wants that a banker should run the payments bank. “RBI has directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding of new customers with immediate effect,” said a person familiar to the matter. Another person, a company executive, said that Paytm is modifying...

RBI Says Cash-On-Delivery Deals Not Allowed

25Jul By AnkitaNo Comments

News

RBI Says Cash-On-Delivery Deals Not Allowed

The most convenient payment option Cash-on-delivery (Cod) provided by several online retailers such as Flipkart and Amazon may be a regulatory grey area as per the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) response to a Right to Information (RTI) query. The RBI has said that e-commerce platforms are "not authorised" to collect money from customers on behalf of third-party vendors in cash-on-delivery (CoD) deals. RBI made the statement in a reply to an RTI query. “Aggregators/payment intermediaries like Amazon and Flipkart are not authorised under Section 8 of the PSS (Payments and Settlements Systems) Act, 2007,” mentioned the apex bank in response to the report. The statement by the RBI could be a critical blow to the e-commerce industry in the country. According to the reports over half of th...

Infibeam to raise 2000 Cr to set up its payments bank

30Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

BUSINESS

Infibeam to raise 2000 Cr to set up its payments bank

Ahmedabad based E-commerce Major Infibeam is now ready to expand its business in IT segment as it looking forward to setting up its payment bank along with raising $292 Mn (INR 2000 Cr). In a recent company's general meeting held on June 28, 2018 shareholders have approved a change in the company name from “Infibeam Incorporation Limited” to "Infibeam Avenues Limited", according to a regulatory filing. The company has sought shareholders approval to apply for authorisation from Reserve Bank of India for its payment bank. It is also approached the apex body to seek approval to explore the business opportunity in the manufacturing of IT hardware. Post-RBI Approval, Infibeam wants to leverage its financial technology and expand business in the domain to issue all kind of prepaid paym...

RBI hikes Repo rate for first time in 4 years under BJP Regime

6Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

INDIA

RBI hikes Repo rate for first time in 4 years under BJP Regime

India's Apex Bank Reserve Bank of India has raised repo rate for the first time in four years amidst inflation concerns surprising market analysts by keeping its policy stance "neutral". The six-member monetary policy committee of RBI headed by governor Urjit Patel has hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent. While the reverse repo rate has been adjusted to 6 percent. Notably, this is a first-time hike in policy rate done by the central bank since Narendra Modi led BJP government has come into office in may 2014. Meanwhile, RBI has allowed 2 percent more SLR (Statutory liquidity ratio) to meet liquidity coverage ratio. In its official statement, RBI said that "it reiterates its commitment to achieving the medium-term target for headline inflation of 4 percent on ...

Sudha Balakrishnan To Take Charge as RBI’s First CFO

28May By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

INDIA

Sudha Balakrishnan To Take Charge as RBI’s First CFO

The Reserve Bank of India has appointed NSDL Executive Sudha Balakrishnan as its first chief financial officer (CFO) who will take in charge from 15 May, according to a news report. This is being considered as one of the biggest organisational change since Urjit Patel took over central bank in September 2016. Sudha Balakrishnan, a chartered accountant serving at India's first and largest depository NSDL will be the 12th executive director at RBI and will hold a three-year term. As per the report, RBI was looking out for a CFO since May 2017 when it had first advertised for the post. A foreign bank executive was selected too to serve the role, however, he backed out due to differences in remuneration. The recruitment notice issued in October 2017 states that the new CFO will be res...

21 PSBs Witness Loss of Rs. 25,775 Cr due to Bank Frauds in FY 2018

28May By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

21 PSBs Witness Loss of Rs. 25,775 Cr due to Bank Frauds in FY 2018

Twenty-one government banks have witnessed a big loss which amounted to Rs. 25,775 crore due to frauds in the banking sector during the financial year 2017-18. The highest amount of loss has been incurred by Punjab National Bank (PNB) totaling Rs 6461.13 crore during the fiscal that ended on the 31st March this year. This was told by Chandrasekhar Gaud to the Press Trust of India, who had filed the RTI with the Reserve Bank of India. The reply which was sent to him did not mention any details regarding any particular case of banking fraud. At present, the Central Bureau of Investigation is scrutinizing one of the biggest baking frauds presumably involving Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi (diamond merchants) and PNB officials. The investigating agency has filed two charge sheets in the spe...

1Dec By reutersNo Comments

INDIA

India sees growth rebound as businesses adjust to GST

India’s economic growth rebounded in the three months ending in September, halting a five-quarter slide as businesses started to overcome teething troubles after the bumpy launch of a national sales tax. Data released on Thursday showing faster growth could help Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been facing criticism over the hasty July launch of a goods and services tax (GST). The tax was aimed at transforming India’s 29 states into a single customs union but it has hit millions of small businesses due to complex rules and technical glitches. Gross domestic product grew 6.3 percent in July-September, its fastest pace in three quarters, compared with 7.5 percent a year earlier, the data showed. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast annual growth of 6.4 percent in the q...

Sequoia Capital Planning Its Exit From Noida Based Pine Labs

28Aug By PriyankaNo Comments

BUSINESS

Sequoia Capital Planning Its Exit From Noida Based Pine Labs

American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital is exploring the options to sell out its portfolio company Pine Labs, one of the country's largest PoS (point of sale) solutions provider. According to the sources reported to ET, Sequoia Capital, who presently owns two-third of this Noida based startup, is targeting a valuation of about $1 billion for it to completely exit the company. In case, such valuation demands are not met, the Menlo Park-based Powerhouse is also considering a partial stake sale in the company in which it had initially invested $1 million in 2009. Avendus Capital has been given the mandate to raise $100 million for a minority stake. "The formal mandate that is ongoing is for a stake sale. Currently , the company is being valued at $600-700 million by peers but ...

Save Your Children From ‘Useless’ Degrees – RBI’s Raghuram Rajan

8May By AnkitaNo Comments

INDIA

Save Your Children From ‘Useless’ Degrees – RBI’s Raghuram Rajan

Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Saturday that efforts should be made to make quality higher education affordable and cautioned students to be careful of “unscrupulous schools” that left alumni with high debt and “useless degrees”. Speaking at the convocation ceremony of Shiv Nadar University, Rajan said while banks must be careful to ensure that student loans were repaid in full, there needed to be concessions for those who fell upon bad times or opted for public service jobs. “We have to be careful that student loans are repaid in full by those who have the means, while they are forgiven in part for those who fall on bad times or those who take low-paying public service jobs,” Rajan said. Banks’ bad loans have become a politically sensitive issue after l...