Govt to frame rules to secure digital wallets

With more and more people switching to digital payments post demonetisation, the government is planning to frame new rules to strengthen cyber security of mobile wallets and prepaid instruments.

“Keeping consumer interest and cyber safety in mind, the new rules will be framed under the Information Technology (IT) Act,” IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The proposed new rules by the IT department will not overlap with those that are already brought out by the Reserve Bank of India, the minister said.

The government has already prepared draft rules which will be put out on public domain seeking comments. Rules will be framed after gathering views from all the stakeholders, he said.

Digital transactions in the country increased to three crore per day in 2016 from 1.85 crore per day in 2015.

The government is also setting up Computer Emergency Response Team for the financial sector (CERT-Fin), which will work closely with all financial sector regulators and stakeholders.

The CERT-Fin will work under CERT-In, nodal agency in the Department of IT that deals with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing, the minister said.

“Aadhaar Pay, a merchant version of Aadhaar enabled payment system, will also be launched shortly. This will specifically be beneficial for those who do not have debit cards, mobile wallets and mobile phones. A mission will be set up with a target of 2,500 crore digital transactions for 2017-18 through Aadhaar Pay, USSID and UPI and debit cards.

Banks have targeted to introduce additional 10 lakh new PoS (Point of Sale) terminals by March 2017. They will be encouraged to introduce 20 lakh Aadhaar based PoS by September 2017,” he said.