They have widely welcomed the new rules for bringing clarity to the space, being 'customer centric' and 'encouraging innovation'
RBI working committee’s recommendations are a step forward in addressing issues related to lack of transparency, data protection, and privacy, as well as user consent.
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India’s fintech startups that had been in a bit of a quandary after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) diktat on prepaid instruments and loans earlier this year, on Wednesday, welcomed the comprehensive rules on digital lending released by the central banker.
The RBI published the rules following the recommendations of a working committee on digital lending, divided into those that have been accepted for immediate implementation and those that have been accepted “in-principle, but require further examination".
“The RBI has demonstrated consumer centricity... we welcome the regulation,” Gaurav Chopra, founder and CEO of IndiaLends, an online lending platform provider, said in an email.
“Most new customers today are borrowing for the first time and a growing share is coming through digital channels. That’s where we believe a framework ensures responsible players are rewarded for working in the interest of the consumer,” Chopra added.
India’s fintech revolution is widely seen as a success at the scale of a billion people. Starting with UPI or the unified payments interface, India is adding financial infrastructure, including the accounts aggregator platform, and--in the broader, online commerce market--ONDC or the open network for digital commerce that has seen support from the world’s biggest tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft.