Lok Sabha Question No. 4149 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-21
Subject: BHIM UPI Payment Service
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: J. JAYASINGH THIYAGARAJ NATTERJEE, (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE, R. PARTHIPAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4149

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 21.03.2018

## BHIM UPI PAYMENT SERVICE

## 4149. SHRI J.J.T. NATTERJEE: ADV. JOICE GEORGE: SHRI R. PARTHIPAN:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: -

- (a) the whether the Government has allowed Facebook-owned WhatsApp to beta test its BHIM UPI beta payments service recently and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether all the banks are participating in this and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  this  will  offer  advantages  such  as  transaction  load  distribution  between banks  and  helps  to  integrate  popular  apps  easily  with  BHIM  UPI  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  this  move  will  increase  the  burden  of  participating  banks  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI K J ALPHONS)

(a): No, Sir. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which owns the BHIM UPI platform  and  was  set  up  with  the  guidance  and  support  of  the  Reserve  Bank  of  India (RBI) and Indian Banks Association (IBA) has an existing internal onboarding process for  enabling  new  members  on  the  platform.  WhatsApp  (Facebook)  has  also  been  on boarded  through  a  similar  process.  WhatsApp  beta  launch  was  done  on  6th  February 2018. The beta version is to be available to 1 million customers till 31st March 2018.

(b):  Customers of all the banks that are currently offering BHIM UPI service shall be able to use the payment functionality in the WhatsApp application. Currently 86 banks (as on 1st of March) are offering BHIM UPI services.

(c): WhatsApp is an addition to existing 3rd party apps and shall only be providing an interface. However the actual banking transactions - like in case of any other app- shall be  done  between  the  banks.  In  other  words,  any  WhatsApp  user  (currently  over  250 million) shall be able to get  the benefit of BHIM UPI services, provided their bank is live  on  BHIM  UPI.  Considering  that  WhatsApp  is  one  of  the  most  used  &  popular mobile application, it is expected to facilitate the expansion of digital financial inclusion through adoption of BHIM UPI service and also help in our endeavor to more towards a less cash society. Like any other BHIM UPI APP, WhatsApp does not have to integrate with any other app, however for other apps to offer BHIM UPI service, integration with BHIM UPI is required.

(d): Government's initiatives are directed towards encouraging more digital transactions in  the  payment  system.  The  entry  of  new  entities  such  as  WhatsApp  in  the  payment ecosystem  through  integration  with  BHIM  UPI  will  help  in  accelerating  the  pace  of digitalization in the country. The participant banks on BHIM UPI will require to have necessary infrastructure to handle the increased volume. Since the volume enhancement is  a  continuous  process  and  is  a  desired  outcome,  banks  are  constantly  engaged  in improving their infrastructure as well their other system level capabilities.

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