RBI Directs Payment Companies To Report Suspicious Transactions Ahead Of Lok Sabha Elections

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New Delhi: As The General Elections are approaching, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed all the payment companies to carefully monitor high value transactions which may come across their system.

The central bank in a letter dated April 15 has instructed payment system operators (PSOs) to take measures for the prevention of any kind of misuse of electronic fund transfer mechanism. The main intention of the letter is to avoid the misuse of electronic fund transfer mechanism which could influence voters or indirectly fund candidates who are taking part in the elections. ()

"The regulator wants payment companies to track high-value merchant payments specifically", as per one of the executives quoted by ET. The directive includes fintech companies like Razorpay, Cashfree, CCAvenue and Mswipe which are all regulated payment aggregators. It also applies to mobile wallet license holders such as PhonePe and MobiKwik. ()

The Election Commission of India's (ECI) has also expressed concern regarding this matter. They have suggested appropriate action to be taken. This includes the reporting of any suspicious transactions to the authorities as per ECI regulations which. This applies throughout the duration of the polling process in the country.

Banks have been directed to share everyday reports to the poll panel by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Rajiv Kumar if there are any suspicious transactions through the election phase.

He said “NPCI will look at whether there are more demands for payments through wallets. We will be looking at all wallet transactions. Banks will be sending almost daily reports of suspicious transactions. This is part of the steps from the poll body to curb the impact of money power and ensure fair elections,"