RBI releases draft rules on AePS to counter frauds on payments system

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday released draft guidelines for streamlining the onboarding and monitoring of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) operators to counter frauds perpetuated through the ecosystem.

Banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are required to comply with these directions within three months from the date of issue of the guidelines.

Since these are draft guidelines, the final date of issue of these directions is undefined.

Acquiring banks, which onboard AePS touchpoint operators, will be required to carry out due diligence in the form of Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines for all the operators they take onboard.

These banks will be required to update the KYC of the operators if they have not performed a single financial transaction for a continuous period of six months.

It will be the responsibility of the NPCI and acquiring banks to ensure that only one bank takes onboard a particular touchpoint operator.

As part of ongoing due diligence, acquiring banks should continuously monitor the activities of AePS touchpoint operators.

Based on the risk profile of a particular operator, transaction limits will be set.

Transactions of AePS touchpoint operators shall be consistent with their location of operation and risk profile, as per the draft guidelines.

AePS is a payment system in which transactions are enabled through an individual's Aadhaar number and biometrics, or OTP (One-Time Password) authentication.

AePS enables basic banking services such as cash withdrawal, balance enquiry, mini statement, cash deposit, and fund transfer.