India: RBI to issue norms for single-authentication online payments

The norms will decide the amount qualifying for low value transaction, hindustantimes.com reports. At present, a two-step authentication is prevalent in India unlike developed nations. The first step of authentication is feeding a secure number and the next step is punching in of another secure code or One Time PIN (OTP). The RBI has taken feedback from banks and other stakeholders on this.

Meanwhile, the commerce and industry ministry have turned down a proposal of the consumer affairs ministry to bring the ecommerce sector under the purview of nine different departments including RBI, saying it would create problems for investors. According to the proposal of the consumer affairs ministry, the sector should be handled by nine departments and regulatory bodies, including the RBI, home ministry, the department of revenue, and the corporate affairs ministry.

Rejecting the proposal, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) also wants the consumer affairs ministry to take care of issues related to ecommerce to avoid ecommerce hurdles for investors. At present, most consumer-related disputes and complaints about the ecommerce sector are dealt by the department of consumer affairs.

However, the consumer affairs department has suggested that ecommerce involved complex issues, including foreign investment and inter-state sale of goods through portals, and hence the different aspects should be regulated by all the departments concerned.