Mumbai: The RBI has also decided to grant licence to entities operating payments systems on a perpetual basis, and permitted companies to reapply for licence after one year of rejection of their application or revocation of their licence.
These were part of the announcements made by RBI Governor Shaktikant Das earlier in the day after the meeting of the central bank’s rate setting panel — Monetary Policy Committee. Now the central bank has issued circulars notifying the announcements. On 24×7 availability of Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System, the RBI said it has been decided “to make RTGS available round the clock on all days of the year with effect from 00:30 hours on December 14, 2020”.
RTGS System is used for high value transactions. The NEFT System of payments is already available round the clock. RTGS will be available for customers and inter-bank transactions round the clock, except for the interval between ‘end-of-day’ and ‘start-of-day’ processes, whose timings would be duly broadcasted through the RTGS system.
The RBI also decided to increase the limit for contactless card transactions to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000 at Point of Sale (PoS) terminals from January 1, 2021 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and feedback from stakeholders. Earlier in the day, the RBI Governor had announced that per transaction limit for Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) relaxation for contactless card transactions will be increased.
“Accordingly, given the sufficient protection available to users, it has been decided to increase the per transaction limit to Rs 5,000,” said one of the circulars, adding that all other requirements, including the discretion of cardholder to use contactless or contact mode of transaction, would continue to remain applicable. Similarly, the limit for processing e-mandates and standing instructions on cards and Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) for recurring transactions has been increased to Rs 5,000.
In both cases, the existing limit is Rs 2,000 per transaction. In another significant decision, the RBI has decided to grant authorisation for all PSOs (both new and existing) on a perpetual basis, subject to the usual conditions, with an aim to reduce licensing uncertainties and enable them to focus on business as also to optimise utilisation of regulatory resources.
