standard setting body under the overall guidance of rbi with representation from iba, idrbt and other stakeholders would be examined and taken forward. how will the white label atm ( wla ) scheme help expand atm network in india? deployment of atms in india is witnessing a 30 % y - on - y growth in the last few years. however, the deployment is largely restricted to the urban / metro areas while locations in bis central bankers ’ speeches tier iii to vi areas have not witnessed much atm presence. further, when compared to other countries the per capita atm deployment in india continues to lag. given the recent policy initiatives in financial inclusion, it is expected that a large number of bank accounts would be opened in tier iii to vi centres triggering a demand for basic banking services including convenience banking through atms. thus, there is a need for expanding deployment of atms to increase availability and access especially in the rural areas. some of the reasons that were being attributed to the low deployment as indicated above were high cost of deployment and operation, inadequate support infrastructure, large requirement of human resources etc. the wla concept exemplifies the benefits of partnership between banks and non - banks in building the payment infrastructure. the banks need not lock their funds since the capital investment is undertaken by the wla operator and the operator gets a fee plus other charges for every transaction from the bank which has issued the card. rbi is in the process of authorising the first set of non - bank entities for operating wlas. wla scheme is a watershed initiative for bank and non - bank partnership in payment space. however, the success would depend on how well the banks and non - bank entities complement each other. the efforts of non - banks to create atm infrastructures need to be complemented by banks by bringing the financially excluded into the ambit of banking and issuing them cards, besides providing a mutually beneficial cash management and settlement of transactions services. further, banks and non - banks need to act in tandem in redressing customer grievances relating to failed transactions. rbi would be closely monitoring the progress and proactively intervening when warranted. consumer protection in electronic payments – a peek through the looking glass or a pandora ’ s box? having raised the issues of discouraging the use of cheques, moving to electronic platforms of payments, and the entry of non - banks into the payment domain, i also need to discuss one other important issue regarding “ consumer protection and rights ” in payments

with the existing light touch regulations vis - a - vis a focused oversight including authorisation for such of those entities which have a significant presence in the market would need to be explored. further, the intermediaries perform certain niche functions which may not qualify to be part of the core businesses of banks. when specialization and efficiency are existent, it would be appropriate to allow such intermediaries to play their roles, but with the added covenants relating to safety, business continuity, risk reduction and sustenance. do we need a payment industry council / association encompassing all stakeholders? the payment landscape in india was for long primarily dominated by banks. legislation of payment and settlement systems act, 2007 paved the way for entry of non - bank payment system operators. the payment system milieu covers an entire gamut of stakeholders like banks, non - bank payment system operators, technology providers, outsourcing agencies, network providers, intermediaries, customers, government etc. the increasing complexities in payment system demands that all the stakeholders work in tandem and collaborate. in the indian scenario, the co - operation and co - ordination among stakeholders is more critical considering the fact that a significant section of the society is under - banked or unbanked. for example for mobile banking to leapfrog it is essential that banks and mnos co - operate. similarly, growth of pos transactions would require co - ordination among merchants, banks, card networks etc. against this backdrop the need for an industry - level association open to all stakeholders needs to be evaluated. there are several such association / payment councils like european payment council ( epc ), uk payment council, australian payments clearing association ( apca ) payments association of south africa ( pasa ), to name a few, which provide the necessary platform for partnerships, collaboration, advocacy, and awareness around payments eco - system in their respective domains. in the indian context, the indian banks association represents the banks but does not have representations from non - banks and other stakeholders. it is true that there are small associations such as in the cards sector, but these are not all - pervasive across payment systems as a whole. industry - wide payments council / association will provide an excellent platform to brainstorm, collaborate and drive new technology proliferation, and thereby bring forth innovative solutions to create a robust payments infrastructure. the need for such a co - operative platform was touched upon in the “ payment systems vision 2012 – 15 ” which stated that the feasibility of forming a