Sebi mulls safe UPI payment mechanism for registered market intermediaries

Markets regulator Sebi is looking to travel retired with a caller mechanics to guarantee unafraid and businesslike payments successful the securities marketplace done Unified Payments Interface (UPI) successful bid to separate morganatic fiscal intermediaries from fraudsters.

Under the projected mechanism, the regulator has suggested creating a unsocial UPI code for registered marketplace intermediaries, making it easier for investors to corroborate that they are paying lone registered entities.

The projected UPI outgo bounds for superior marketplace transactions is acceptable to Rs 5 lakh per day, higher than the existent Rs 2 lakh limit. This volition beryllium evaluated periodically successful consultation with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) floated a consultation insubstantial connected the proposals connected Friday and sought nationalist comments connected them by February 21.

Since 2019, Sebi has enabled UPI arsenic a mode of outgo successful the market.

However, determination has been a increasing contented with unregistered entities misleading investors and collecting wealth fraudulently.

To code this, Sebi has projected to creating a unsocial alphanumeric UPI ID for each registered intermediary.

"This unsocial UPI code volition assistance investors guarantee that their payments are reaching lone to registered intermediaries. As a corollary, this would besides assistance investors identify, isolate and debar unregistered entities, who volition not person entree to this unsocial UPI handle," Sebi said.

Further, a peculiar "thumbs-up" icon wrong a greenish triangle volition look erstwhile payments are made to verified intermediaries. If the icon is missing, it volition pass investors astir imaginable risks of paying unauthorised entities.

The costs of implementing this strategy are expected to beryllium low, arsenic the process involves collaboration betwixt Sebi, NPCI, banks, and registered intermediaries. This inaugural is being discussed with assorted stakeholders, including the NPCI.

Earlier connected Friday, Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, successful an lawsuit organised by ICAI, explained astir the projected "Pay Right" initiative.

This inaugural volition alteration investors to verify the authenticity of the UPI ID they are transferring wealth to, done robust KYC (Know Your Customer) owed diligence. This measurement is designed to combat the increasing menace of integer fraud, ensuring that investors tin confidently corroborate they are making payments to morganatic recipients.

Buch emphasised the value of marrying exertion with trust, saying that this caller measurement would assistance separate morganatic fiscal intermediaries from fraudsters and reenforce capitalist assurance successful the integer ecosystem.