SAMACHAR - MAY, 2025  
 
 

IAMAI Partners with MIB to Organise WAVES and WAVEX 2025

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) was one of the major partners of WAVES 2025, a flagship conference of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, held May 1-4, 2025, at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. As a key partner for the Digital Media Pillar, IAMAI assisted in the curation and coordination of the conference, ensuring rich, industry-led discussions on the future of digital entertainment and streaming in India.

As part of WAVES, IAMAI collaborated with the MIB to organise WAVEX 2025. Through this initiative, IAMAI played a key role in identifying and supporting innovative startups in gaming, animation, XR, metaverse, generative AI, and next-generation content platforms. By facilitating pitching sessions with venture capitalists and angel investors, IAMAI ensured these startups gained critical exposure, funding opportunities, and industry mentorship-reinforcing India’s emergence as a global media-tech innovation hub.

IAMAI also spearheaded three high-impact challenges under the WAVES umbrella: WAVES Reelmaking Challenge with Meta, celebrating storytelling through reels; Comic Chronicles with Google Play & Dashtoon, highlighting talent in comic creation and visual storytelling and WAVES Explorer with YouTube, inviting creators to share vlogs around the theme "For the Record, This is My India", capturing their personal vision and experience of India. These challenges received widespread participation from across the world.


A session on digital entertainment in progress at WAVES 2025


At WAVEX 2025 pitching session, a startup is showcasing MagicRoll AI
 
 
IAMAI Proposal to Karnataka Govt on Employability Training Initiative
The IAMAI has proposed an employability training initiative to the Department of Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, following a meeting with Shri Dr. K G Jagadeesha, Secretary, Higher Education Department. The ten-week, offline program will be conducted in Bangalore and aims to enhance career readiness among college students by focusing on placement preparation, BFSI domain expertise, and workplace soft skills. The initiative includes over 40 hours of training, mock interviews, industry-recognized certification, and concludes with a placement drive connecting students to potential employers.
 
 
IAMAI Facilitates Briefing to Members by NITI Aayog on Rural Skilling Initiative
IAMAI organized a virtual briefing for its members on NITI Aayog’s upcoming Rural Skilling Initiative, which targets school and college dropouts aged 18-45 in seven aspirational districts of India. The initiative aims to skill at least 1,500 learners each month in future-ready domains such as AI, ML, coding, and soft skills, primarily through government training institutions. The session was led by Lt Col Jitendra Verma, Officer on Special Duty, Education and Skill Development, NITI Aayog, who outlined the programme and engaged with members on potential collaborations, implementation strategies, and expectations from industry partners.
 
 
Submission to CERSAI on OTP-Based Consent Mechanism in CKYCRR
Two councils of the IAMAI, the Payments Council of India (PCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) FCC made a joint submission to the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI) regarding the recent mandate introducing OTP-based consent for CKYC record access. While the industry welcomed the progressive, customer-centric security measure, the submission highlighted key operational challenges in implementing the changes within the proposed timelines. Certain clarifications were also sought on specific process aspects to ensure smoother industry-wide adoption.
 
 
PCI Submission on Forms 15 CA/CB and Role of PSPs in It
The PCI made a submission to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), outlining industry concerns regarding the applicability of Forms 15CA/CB to transactions facilitated by Payment Service Providers (PSPs). The current framework does not explicitly recognize the intermediary role of PSPs, which has led to practical challenges in compliance. Following this, a discussion was held with the CBDT on 19th May 2025. As advised by CBDT during the session, PCI submitted a follow-up representation detailing the intermediary flow of PSPs and the rationale for excluding them from compliance obligations under the current provisions.
 
 
Submission to MeitY on Challenges of Importing of POS Devices
The PCI made a submission to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) regarding the challenges associated with Importing of POS devices. Ministry acknowledged the challenges and issued necessary clarification to address industry concerns.
 
 
PCI hosts Delegation of World Bank and Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah
The PCI recently hosted a high-level delegation from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with representatives from the World Bank. The discussion focused on the Indian digital payments landscape, providing the delegation with a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem’s structure, operations, and key stakeholders. An important issue that came up during the discussion was the need to enhance the payments experience for Indian travelers visiting Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah. Participants explored how Indian digital payment infrastructure could be better integrated with systems in Saudi Arabia to enable a seamless, secure, and user-friendly experience for pilgrims.
 
 
PCI Hosts Payment Aggregators Meeting to Discuss MCC Codes
The PCI organised an industry meeting of online Payments Aggregators to address concerns highlighted by the regulator around the right allocation of Merchant Category Codes (MCCs). The session aimed to raise awareness among members and to align on key actions, including, undertaking a comprehensive review of MCCs assigned to all onboarded merchants-especially in high-risk categories such as PPI Loading and Online Gaming, establishing internal controls and audit trails to document the rationale for MCC assignments, and implementing periodic validation mechanisms to keep MCCs updated as merchants diversify or change their business nature.
 
 
PCI Proposal to RBI for Permitting Inward Remittances via RDA to Fully-KYC Compliant PPIs
The PCI through its Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) and International Trade & Remittance (IRT) Committees, has formed a dedicated working group to explore enabling inward remittances for PPI players. Following a meeting of the working group, which explored various avenues and capabilities in the existing regulatory ecosystem to receive inward remittances, the PCI submitted a proposal to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking regulatory consideration to allow cross-border inward remittances processed under the Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) to be credited to Fully-KYC compliant PPIs.
 
 
PCI Extraordinary General Meeting
The PCI organised an Extraordinary General Meeting on May 2, 2025. The Meeting was convened to discuss changes in the nomination process for the PCI elections. The agenda tabled was to reconsider the cooling-off period for chairs of the PCI after the end of their terms and allow office bearers in order to have the opportunity to contest in the elections in consecutive terms.
 
 
Knowledge Session on RBI Draft Circular on Updation of KYC
The PCI and the FCC in collaboration with PW & CO LLP hosted a knowledge session, On May 28, 2025, on the RBI draft circular on Updation/ Periodic Updation of KYC. The session gave insights into the revisions in the draft circular that aimed at simplifying and streamlining the KYC updating process and intended to enhance ease of compliance for both customers and Regulated Entities. Over 200 industry professionals participated in it.
 
 
Knowledge Session on UIDAI’s Innovation Sandbox
The Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) in collaboration with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) hosted a knowledge session on UIDAI’s Innovation Sandbox on May 23, 2025. A walkthrough of the Sandbox platform was conducted, showcasing current features such as organization registration and authentication testing. Participants also got a sneak peek at upcoming enhancements like Login with Aadhaar and Verifiable Credentials, followed by a Q&A session with UIDAI experts. The session was addressed by Lt. Col. Sandhu, Director and Zach Ninan Head of Innovations at the UIDAI Tech Centre. More than 100 industry professionals participated in the session.
 
 
FCC and NSE Creative Awareness Campaign
The FCC in collaboration with the 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 fourteenth round of creative initiatives. The message for May was: "One wrong click can cost you your entire investment! Avoid phishing traps-never share login details, OTPs, or personal information. Ignore suspicious links, report phishing, and keep your accounts secure."