Big Win For India: Google To Follow RBI’s Mandate Regarding ‘Localised Storing’ Of Payments Data 

Reports have emerged that Google CEO Sundar Pichai has assured Minister for Information Technology and Law, Ravi Shankar Prasad, about Google’s intent to adhere to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) directions on storing information relating to financial payments in India. Reports have quoted the Google CEO as having stated that “we will abide by all conditions that are being stipulated by the Indian government and regulators regarding the payments service”. This is highly significant considering the opposition voiced by multinational players regarding India’s data localisation norms.

The RBI had, on 6 April, issued a notification asking companies to store the data concerning financial transactions within India in a bid to address safety considerations. Companies had been asked to comply by 15 October and it is reported that while Google has agreed to store data within India, it has sought additional time to comply.

Google is a major player in the digital payments space and had launched ‘Tez’ last year to facilitate transactions over UPI (Unified Payments Interface). The robust response to Google’s payment option resulted in the company re-positioning the service as ‘Google Pay’. The digital payments space in India is projected to grow rapidly especially with the recent entry of multinational players and Google’s acquiescence to Indian regulations could pave the way for others to follow suit.