NCPI Requires Google, WhatsApp To Store Payments Data Exclusively In India

Stricter regulations are being put on data privacy by the Indian government. Companies have been asked to exclusively store user data in India. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in two separate letters, has asked both WhatsApp and Google, to clarify their plan on payment data storing.

A senior government official said that to be in line with RBI, NCPI announced that all data related to payments is to be stored only in India. This has been clearly stated in its official letters to WhatsApp and Google.

The Indian government wants all payments data to be kept locally, instead of being transferred into mirror copy to keep abroad by companies. To abide by the government’s law and the guidelines issued by NPCI, in October, WhatsApp announced that a system has been built for exclusive payments data storing in India. This will also make it easier for wider rollout plan from WhatsApp to be approved by the Indian government.

One month later, following WhatsApp’s path, Google has also decided to follow the government’s rule on a data storage policy. The company also asked for time to build required facilities. However, both WhatsApp and Google did not reveal any information on the degree of payments data exclusivity.

Ever since WhatsApp revealed that users’ payments data like UPI PIN, virtual payments address (VPA) and transaction amount has been shared with Facebook as well as third-party services providers, it is extremely important for payments data to be stored locally.

WhatsApp admission has put the company under the radar of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In a recent interview with EconomicTimes, when being asked about NPCI’s letter, a representative from Google said that in order to support Google’s partnered that followed RBI’s guidelines, the company was in a process of increasing their data residency capacity in India.

Whereas, when also being asked about NPCI’s letter, WhatsApp spokesperson avoids answering any queries. However, according to a government official, WhatsApp feels that the company’s payment service is receiving unfair treatment from the government while rival companies are being biased. Therefore, a ‘level playing field’ is what the company is looking for.