The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday directed all payment aggregators to undertake due diligence of merchants on boarded as per RBI’s norms, to regulate the payment ecosystem.
The KYC and due diligence norms, according to the RBI, shall be applicable 3 months from Tuesday’s circular and the due diligence of all merchants by payment aggregators shall be completed by September 30, 2025.
The apex bank has directed the aggregators to monitor transaction activity of merchant on an ongoing basis. “Based on its transaction pattern, the merchant shall be migrated to higher category of CDD. Upon migration, the PA shall immediately undertake the additional due diligence of the merchant as prescribed in the guidelines above,” RBI said in a notification.
Further, non-bank payment aggregators have been asked to register themselves with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) and provide the needed information as desired by the said unit.
As for the Payment Aggregators – physical Point of Sale (PA-P), the RBI has also announced that all the Non-banks providing these services shall now have a minimum networth of Rs 15 crore at the time of authorisation.
Moreover, a minimum networth of Rs 25 crore is required by March 31, 2028.
“The net-worth of ₹25 crore shall be maintained at all times thereafter,” it said.
In case of all existing non-bank PA-P failing to comply with the above said requirement or do not apply for authorisation within time, the RBI has asked the institutions to “wind-up PA-P activity by July 31, 2025”.
Additionally, the central bank has also asked the banks to close accounts (used for PA activity) of non-bank PA-P by October 31, 2025, unless such PAs produce evidence regarding application for authorisation submitted to the RBI.
