RBI tells to stick to online payment norms

The Reserve Bank of India has said that online marketplaces need to adhere to its 2009 guidelines on settlement of payments for electronic payment transactions involving intermediaries, a clarification that came after a vendors’ body complained to the central bank alleging late payments by ecommerce companies.

The RBI also asked the All India Online Vendors Association, which had submitted its complaint in August, to raise specific cases of violations with it for evaluation. The association had complained about delayed payments by ecommerce platforms such as Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm.

While the guidelines state that settlements must be made in two-three days from the day of intimation of the completion of transaction as agreed upon by both parties (referred to in the industry as T+2, T+3), the association complained that the remittances took more than T+15 days and that the money was not being kept in escrow accounts.

In its response to the association last week, the RBI said: “All payments to merchants which do not involve transfer of funds to nodal banks shall be effected within a maximum of T+2 settlement cycle , while payments to merchants involving nodal banks shall be effected within a maximum of T+3 settlement cycle”.

The RBI had in response to a query under the Right to Information Act in August identified platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon as intermediaries which come under the purview of the guidelines.