India’s Central Bank made an announcement recently reminding merchants and service providers about the mandatory 2-step verification process needed to legally collect Payments in India.
While not specified by name, the service which seems to have re-sparked the bank’s interest in following the regulations is taxi and black car hailing service Uber. Uber provides a simple payment flow allowing for users to pay for rides quickly and easily by using stored payment card details. The bulk of the complaints came from local taxi drivers stating the mobile Startup is not incorporating a 2-step verification process.
Whether it is abiding by regulations or not, Uber has been under attack from taxi drivers and other transportation services given its fast and efficient way of hailing rides and paying the fare. Something private drivers and car services cannot compete with.
Uber has been linked with mobile oriented payment service provider Braintree, which was acquired by PayPal in 2013. Since its purchase of Braintree, PayPal has used Uber on occasion as a platform for showing off new innovation such as integrated in-app PayPal support. PayPal has also been recently on a quest for simplification, trying to make the buy-process on mobile devices as simple as possible.
All companies which do not incorporate a 2-step verification process are advised to get their affairs in order by October 31st. In addition the bank also added that payments must be routed through a domestic bank and settled in Indian rupees.
"It is advised that entities adopting such practices leading to willful non-adherence and violation of extant instructions should immediately put a stop to such arrangements," the RBI said in a release.
Uber has not responded as of yet regarding the matter.
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