Large corporates request RBI for customers' UPI data, says Dy Guv Sankar

Large corporates, including fintech, have requested the RBI on how they could access the data from UPI

Large corporates, including fintech, have requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on how they could access the data from the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), said Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said on Monday, reported The Hindu BusinessLine. 

The request, from both large fintech and non-fintech, comes on the sidelines of an NCAER event which was held in Delhi, Sankar said, quoted BusinessLine. 

Corporates are requesting access to UPI data as it can help companies, especially fintech structure products for specific target segments of the population. 

Developed by NPCI in 2016, UPI in August saw 6.57 billion transactions, amounting to Rs 10.72 trillion, at a record high. The volume of transactions rose 85 per cent and value 67.85 per cent year-on-year (YoY) as the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital payments. 

Asked if the RBI will accept corporates' demand, Sankar said, "We have to check what the conditions are subject to which data will be shared. First of all, the data is not owned by RBI. How the data will be used, who will access it, whether it will be allowed,” reported BusinessLine. 

He added that something like a data protection bill, which was recently withdrawn by the government, needs to be in place. 

"I am just saying requests have come and businesses are looking for data as data is important. If businesses had more data, they could design more products,“ the newspaper quoted Sankar.

Talking at the NCAER event on financial inclusion earlier, the RBI deputy governor said, India is “extremely data-rich” as digitalisation is growing at a rapid pace and added that corporates want to “access your data” because that will give them information that can be used to structure products that can be targeted at specific segments of the population, reported BusinessLine.

He said that the process needs to be done in a manner where the customer is aware that the customer has some level of consent. "Being data rich is obviously a boon in the sense that new products can be developed, but at the same time, being data rich also increases the responsibility on the government and the regulator," Sankar added, quoted the business daily.

The government last month withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill from the Lok Sabha amid backlash. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the Centre is hopeful of getting the new legislation passed by the next Budget Session of Parliament.