RBI to soon come up with vision document on payment systems

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank will soon be releasing a new vision document for the development of payment systems in the country, which will spell out the broader direction of regulation, its Deputy Governor R Gandhi said today.

"The Reserve Bank is working on the next payment system vision document...now we are working out the next vision document which will cover what are the developmental initiatives the RBI should be encouraging the industry to do," he said speaking at a National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) event here.

He said the RBI has been bringing out such vision documents for payment systems since 1998 and they have been covering a period of three years each.

Preparing a new document is necessary as the current one ends in 2015, Gandhi added.

He, however, declined to specify if the new document will continue with the tradition of covering a three year period or increase it to five.

When asked about time-lines and by when to expect the new document, he said it will be released soon.

In the vision statement in the ongoing document, the RBI had stated that the aim is to "pro-actively encourage electronic payment systems for ushering in a less-cash society in India and to ensure payment and settlement systems in the country are safe, efficient, interoperable, authorised, accessible, inclusive and compliant with international standards."

Gandhi said there is a need to increase the number of point of sale machines to 20 million from the present 12 million.

He further said in the next three to five years, the mobile devices will dominate the growth in retail payments.

Meanwhile, on the strategic debt restructuring, Gandhi hinted that RBI is open to tweaking the newly introduced provision which allows lenders to take majority stakes in troubled borrowers.

"Any regulation we tweak it based on feedback. Whenever it is hurting them, we will take it in. It is a continuous process, there is no time limit," he added.

Gandhi, however, did not specify the concerns that are being faced by banks at present.

On the growth front, he said though the present numbers are gratifying, there is a need to do more as the country is not close to its peers in the emerging markets.

"We need to be pressing ahead with out efforts in this area," he said in comments that come days after the government lowered its FY16 GDP growth estimate to 7-7.5 per cent.