International Financial Services Centres Authority on 13 June, 2023 has issued a Consultation paper on proposed IFSCA(Payment Services) Regulations, 20XX.
The Regulations inter alia provide for:
Procedure for applying to provide a “Payment Service”
The regulations lay down the process for applying to be a Payment Service Provider (PSP) and the types of authorizations that shall be granted for the Authority. The regulations also permit the Authority to revoke an authorization previously granted and also lay down the procedure for a PSP to surrender an authorization previously granted.
Types of authorisations
Depending on the time of payment service/s sought to provided and the requirement for holding customer funds, the regulations provide for two types of authorisations namely Licensing and Registration.
Providing initial capital
Authorisation shall be granted once the applicant demonstrates ability to hold the necessary capital prescribed by the Authority.
Governance requirements
The PSP shall comprehensively document its governance arrangements and keep such documentation upto date.
Exemption from the requirement of authorisation
The Authority may exempt a payment service or a person proposing to provide a payment service from the requirement for authorisation under the regulation subject to such conditions as it may deem fit to impose.
Safeguarding the funds of the users
The PSP is required to safeguarding the funds of the users received by it and also keep such funds segregated from the funds owned by the PSP.
The draft regulations are placed on the website of the IFSCA at https://ifsca.gov.in/PublicConsultation. General public and stakeholders are requested to forward their comments/suggestions through e-mail to Mr. Supriyo Bhattacharjee at supriyo.b@ifsca.gov.in and Mr. Vaibhav Sattavan at vaibhav.sattavan@ifsca.gov.in on or before July 5, 2023.
