Page 10 - Banking Finance May 2022

RBI CORNER

other account of a depositor, may be Net worth requirement for bill payments to be low-
allowed to be withdrawn...", subject to
certain conditions, it added. ered to Rs.25 crore
The central bank, however, added the With the growing popularity of Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), the RBI
directions should not per se be con- has decided to lower the net worth requirement of operating units to Rs. 25
crore from the current limit set at Rs. 100 crore.
strued as a cancellation of the banking
licence by the RBI. "To further facilitate greater penetration of bill payments through BBPS and
to encourage participation of a greater number of non-bank Bharat Bill Pay-
"The bank will continue to undertake
banking business with restrictions till ment Operating Units in the BBPS, it is proposed to reduce the net worth
further notification from RBI. The Re- requirement of such entities from Rs. 100 crore to Rs. 25 crore," said RBI
Governor Shaktikanta Das.
serve Bank may consider modifications
of these directions depending upon cir- The Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies noted that while
cumstances," it noted. BBPS has seen an increase in the volume of transactions and number of
onboarded billers, there has not been a corresponding growth in the number
RBI warns public on KYC of non-bank Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs). "The current
requirement of net worth for a non-bank BBPOU to obtain authorisation is
frauds Rs. 100 crore and it is viewed as a constraint to greater participation," it
RBI has asked members of the public said, adding that necessary amendments to regulations will be carried out
not to respond to offers for getting shortly. BBPS is an interoperable platform for bill payments and coversall
their KYC (know-your-customer) details categories of billers who raise recurring bills.
updated. The fresh warning comes in
the wake of unscrupulous elements
Phishing frauds involve spoofed emails scheme are picking up. They reached
innovating their modus operandi for or SMS aimed at duping customers into almost $2 billion a month in August and
frauds, including social media tech- believing that it has originated from September 2021.
niques.
their bank or e-wallet provider to ex- The central bank has said that there
"Any phone call/email threatening the tract confidential details. are unauthorised electronic trading
blocking of your account on the pretext
The other standard method is getting platforms (ETPs) that have engaged
of nonupdation of KYC and suggestion
the customer to download an applica- agents to lure people to undertake
to click a link for updating the same is tion for remote access on their mobile forex trading with promises of 'exorbi-
a common modus operandi of phones or computers to grant the tant returns'. "Further, there have
fraudsters," the RBI said in its note on
fraudsters access. There have also been reports of frauds committed by
safe digital banking practices.
been cases of the collect request fea- such unauthorised ETPs / portals and
"Always access the official website of ture of UPI being misused by sending many residents losing money through
your bank/ NBFC/ e-wallet provider or fake collect requests and passing them such trading / schemes," the central
contact the branch," the note added. off as payment messages. bank said. It added that these schemes
are being pushed through social media
Reiterating the warning against shar-
ing one-time passwords (OTPs) or card RBI warns using forex lim- platforms, search engines, gaming apps
details, the central bank highlighted and over-the-top platforms.
vishing, phishing and remote access as its to trade in dollars The RBI has said that while permitted
some of the common measures used by The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has forex transactions can be executed
fraudsters. Vishing refers to phone cautioned against the use of its electronically, they should be under-
calls from fraudsters aimed at luring liberalised remittance scheme (LRS), taken only on ETPs authorised for the
customers into sharing their confiden- which allows individuals to send up to purpose by the central bank or on
tial details for either KYC, account ac- $250,000 abroad annually, to trade in recognised stock exchanges (NSE, BSE
tivation, unblocking SIM cards or cred- forex platforms. RBI's caution comes and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of
iting money to customer accounts. at a time when remittances under the India). T

10 | 2022 | MAY | BANKING FINANCE