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WhatsApp payment service gets nod for 100 mn users in India: Report

WION Web Team
New Delhi Edited By: Gandharv WaliaUpdated: Apr 14, 2022, 10:28 AM IST
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WhatsApp gets regulatory approval to increase users to 100 mn for payments service in India (representative image). Photograph:(Reuters)

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This approval from the NPCI is sure to come as a relief to the company, which has more than 500 million users in India. In 2020, the NPCI had given approval to WhatsApp for launching the payments service. The company has made concerted efforts to comply with Indian regulations. These include data storage norms requiring all payments-related data to be stored locally

WhatsApp seems to have got regulatory approval to increase users by more than double for its payments service to 100 million in India, a Reuters report said citing sources on Wednesday.  

On Wednesday, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) seems to have told the Meta Platforms Inc's company that it can hike the users to 100 million, the sources said.   

Presently, there are 40 million users. In a statement to Reuters, the NPCI has confirmed the development.  

This approval from the NPCI is sure to come as a relief to the company, which has more than 500 million users in India. 

In 2020, the NPCI had given approval to WhatsApp for launching the payments service. The company has made concerted efforts to comply with Indian regulations. These include data storage norms requiring all payments-related data to be stored locally.  

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The firm had started with 20 million users. In November last year, the limit was raised to 40 million.  

In India's digital payment market, Paytm, Walmart’s PhonePe and Alphabet Inc's Google Pay are other big players.  

India has witnessed a huge rise in the online transactions, e-wallet and lending services in the recent years.   

(With inputs from agencies)