SAMACHAR - DECEMBER, 2024  
 
 

IAMAI’s PCI & FCC Organise Fintech Innovations for Global Impact Showcase

Two councils of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the Payments Council of India (PCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) collaborated with the New, Emerging Strategic Technologies (NEST) Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, India (MEA) to organize the Fintech Innovations for Global Impact Showcase on December 19, 2024. The showcase was hosted at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) office in New Delhi and was attended by Shri Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary, MEA’s NEST Division; Shri P. Kumaran, Special Secretary, MEA, and representatives from over 75 Indian Missions globally.

The showcase facilitated various Indian fintech companies to place themselves on a global platform by presenting their innovative products and solutions before a global audience.

The Fintech companies that participated in the showcase were: NPCI International Limited; Veefin; Juspay; Razorpay; Signzy; IDfy; Jisa; Ninjakart; M2P; Protean; Paynearby; Infibeam; Vayana; In Solution Global; Jocata; E-Mudhra; Pi-labs.ai; Simpl, and Toucanus.
 
 

IAMAI Organises Interaction with TRAI on ‘Balancing Anti-Spam Measures with Ease of Doing Business’

IAMAI organised an interaction with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on ‘Balancing Anti-Spam Measures with Ease of Doing Business’ on December 20, 2024, in New Delhi. Mr. Pushpendra Kumar Singh, Principal Advisor, TRAI, presided over the meeting. Mr. Atul Kumar Chaudhary, Secretary, TRAI was also present. Participants from the industry engaged with the TRAI on a range of issues pertaining to spam communication, including the definition and categorisation of calls and messages, obtaining digital consent under the TCCCPR, streamlining Codes of Practice, and caller headers, among others.
 
 

IAMAI Submission to West Bengal Govt Underlines Problems of Mandatory Registration of Commercial Bikes

In September 2024, the Transport Department, Government of West Bengal mandated commercial registration of bike taxis. In response to this regulation, IAMAI made a submission to the Government of West Bengal, pointing out that such a step would lead to tens of thousands of individual gig worker losing out on livelihood opportunities, and suggested to the Transport Department for an industry consultation to discuss a way forward.
 
 

Representation on SEBI’s Draft Circular on Participation of Retail Investors in Algorithmic Trading

The FCC’s Investment Committee made a representation to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in reference to SEBI’s guidelines for algorithmic trading by institutions through DMA vide Circular dated March 30, 2012. The representation advocated for retail participation in algorithmic trading, raising concerns about the operational challenges and regulatory burdens for retail investors and stockbrokers.
 
 

Representation to SEBI on Harnessing DigiLocker as a DPI for Reducing Unclaimed Assets in the Indian Securities Market

The FCC’s Investment Committee made a representation to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in reference to SEBI’s draft circular on ‘Harnessing DigiLocker as a Digital Public Infrastructure for Reducing Unclaimed Assets in the Indian Securities Market’ dated December 10, 2024.

The representation sought clarity about the process for identifying potential inaccuracies in nominee details and recommended introducing a robust verification and acknowledgment mechanism to ensure the validity and awareness of nominations.
 
 

First Working Group Meeting with the Financial Intelligence Unit of India

The Payments Council of India (PCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) collaborated with the Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-India) to form a Working Group. The first working group meeting was held on December 18, 2024, in New Delhi.

The working group discussed key fintech industry issues such as ‘Suspicious Transaction Reporting’ (STRs), Red Flag Indicators, Risk Management and Fraud Prevention, Business Correspondent (BC) ecosystem.
 
 

Audit Standardization Working Group Meeting

The PCI initiated the Audit Standardization Working Group, highlighting the need for a dialogue regarding the multiple audits’ payment aggregators undergo, which often have overlapping requirements. In a meeting held on December 19, 2024, the working group discussed various audits, including cybersecurity audits, PCI DSS, compliance, and other regulatory requirements. Members proposed creating a common control checklist that auditors could reference, ensuring consistency in audit expectations and reducing the burden on PSPs.
 
 

Incentives for the Digital Payments Hardware Working Group Meeting

To achieve an inclusive digital payments ecosystem by promoting domestic manufacturing, the Merchant Aggregators and Acquirers Committee of the PCI formed a Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme for digital payments hardware working group on December 26, 2024.

The working group held two meetings that concluded with two objectives: Focus on rationalizing customs duties on imported components to enhance the competitiveness of local manufacturing and implement a broader incentive scheme once local manufacturing capabilities are established.
 
 

Discussion on the IRDAI Guidelines

The Card Networks Committee of the PCI hosted a discussion with card networks and industry stakeholders, on December 6, 2024, to address the IRDAI guidelines issued in September 2024. These guidelines stipulate that the name on the payment instrument must match the policyholder's name and that customer accounts should only be debited after the policy was issued. The purpose of this discussion was to assess the industry's readiness to comply with these new guidelines.
 
 

PPI Committee Meeting

The Prepaid Payment Issuers (PPI) Committee of the PCI facilitated a virtual meeting for its Prepaid Payment Issuers (PPI) Committee, on December 4, 2024, to discuss key topics including the integration of PPIs into the UPI ecosystem for improved usability, streamlining KYC processes, and updates on MDR rates. The committee emphasized advocating for PPI discoverability while concluding on a note for a follow up discussion on key agenda items shortly.
 
 

Webinar on Unlocking Opportunities in the GIFT IFSC: Tax, Regulatory and Strategic Insights

The FCC and the PCI along with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and PW & Co LLP conducted a webinar on “Unlocking opportunities in the GIFT IFSC: Tax, Regulatory and Strategic insights” on December 20, 2024.

The session covered an overview of GIFT City, IFSCA’s broad regulatory framework, the Techfin Framework and opportunities for Payment Service Providers in IFSC.

The session was addressed by Dr. Dipesh Shah, Executive Director (Development), Mr. Supriyo Bhattacharjee Chief General Manager (Department of Banking Regulation & Development and Division of Payments and Settlement systems) from IFSCA and Mr. Suresh Swamy, Partner at PW & Co LLP. More than 80 industry professionals participated in the webinar.
 
 

Knowledge session on Legal Entity Identifier

The FCC along with the Global Legal Entity Identifier (GLEIF) hosted a webinar on “Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)” on December 13, 2024. The session gave a background on GLEIF and LEI, regulations supporting LEI in India and globally, use cases of the LEI and an introduction to Verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (VLEI) and its use cases.

It was addressed by Ms. Xue Tan, Head of Business Development, GLEIF Asia and Mr. Vikas Panwar, Country Business Manager, GLEIF, India. More than 60 industry professionals participated in the webinar.
 
 

Webinar on Beta Version Release of DIGIPIN – the National Addressing Grid

The FCC, in collaboration with the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, Government of India, hosted a webinar on the “Beta Version Release of DIGIPIN – the National Addressing Grid” on December 10, 2024. The session gave a background on DIGIPIN’s aim to establish a standardized, geo-coded addressing system in India. The webinar drew participation of more than 100 industry professionals.
 
 

Knowledge Session on Navigating Cyber and Fraud Risk Within the Fintech Ecosystem

The FCC’s Regtech Committee hosted a webinar on the “Navigating Cyber and Fraud Risk within the fintech ecosystem” on December 16, 2024. The virtual knowledge session was addressed by Mr. Parag Deodhar, Managing Director – Internal Audit and Global IT Audit Lead, Accenture. In his talk Mr. Deodhar covered key themes such as cyber hygiene, fraud, and enhancing technology governance in the ever-evolving Fintech landscape. More than 85 industry professionals participated in the webinar.
 
 

Knowledge Session on Proposed Amendments in the Insurance Act by DFS

The FCC’s Investment Committee, in collaboration with Ernst & Young (EY), hosted a knowledge session on December 6, 2024, to discuss the proposed amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938, the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956, and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 vide F. No. 12018/2/2021-InsII.

The session focused on the key themes and amendments to the Act, with insights led by EY's Actuarial and Business Consulting team. More than 75 industry professionals participated in the webinar.
 
 

FCC and NSE creative Awareness Campaign

The FCC in collaboration with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has been campaigning to spread awareness to small retail investors enabling them to make informed investment decisions. This campaign went live on 15th April 2024. Several member participants including Paytm Money, ICICI Securities, Fintoo, Experian, LXME and Stockgrowth participated in this.

The campaign is in its ninth round of creative initiatives. The message for December was: “Be alert and do not be part of any groups that dole out advice on which stocks to invest in. Fraudsters trick you into ‘investing’ and when you want to withdraw the ‘profit made, they disappear."