Over the last few days, there was a series of misinformed reports that suggested that Google Pay (GPay) is an unauthorised application (is not protected by the law) and transfer of money would not be safe through the application. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a digital payments and settlement systems enabler in India and an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks' Association (IBA), countered these claims.
These reports surfaced after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told the Delhi High Court that Google Pay is a third party app provider (TPAP) and does not operate any payment systems. Explaining the statement, NPCI said, “RBI has authorised NPCI as a Payment System Operator (PSO) of UPI and NPCI in its capacity as PSO authorises all UPI participants.” NPCI went on to clarify that “Google Pay is classified as Third Party App Provider (TPAP) that also provides UPI payment services like many others, working through banking partners and operating under the UPI framework of NPCI.” All authorised TPAPs are listed on the NPCI website.
As per the norms, all transactions that are made using authorised TPAPs are fully protected, it stated. Under the guidelines of NPCI/RBI, customers using apps like GPay and other authorised applications can access redressal processes. “Further, we would also like to clarify that all authorised TPAP’s are already bound by full compliance to all the regulations and applicable laws in India. UPI ecosystem is fully safe and secure, and we appeal to the citizens not to fall prey to such malicious news,” NPCI stated.
