WhatsApp Payments Violating UPI Guidelines, Says Paytm Chief Vijay Shekhar

WhatsApp's UPI-Based Payment System Might Go Live Next Month in India

WhatsApp recently announced the rollout of WhatsApp Payments feature for both Android and iPhone users – here's how you can get it on your telephone right at present. And while the feature works really well and is a handy way of transferring coin to your contacts, the contest is not happy with the way WhatsApp is using UPI for the payment mechanism.

As reported past Economic Times,Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm, will petition against WhatsApp for how the instant messaging client is handling the process of UPI payments in India.Sharma feels that the lack of any login makes WhatsApp payments a security take chances, alike to giving an "open ATM" to everyone.

"Facebook is openly colonizing our payment system and is customizing UPI to their benefit. UPI was congenital equally an Republic of india Stack, at present some American monopoly arm-twists UPI for customer implementation," Sharma told ET. "How tin you give such a security risk just in the name of underwriting that banks accept given. WhatsApp is used by gullible Indian consumers far more than than any other awarding in this country,"

However, an industry executive aware of WhatsApp'south payments product has rebutted Sharma's claims. "While NPCI has advised UPI apps to have login sessions, it is not compulsory. Even other apps that use UPI, like Ola and Uber, don't have login sessions."

Other people experience that while security isn't the master business concern because WhatsApp still requires users to enter their UPI PIN for transactions, the app has been given elbowroom to make the client feel ameliorate which was non allowed to other companies. As such, this is bound to create friction against other companies. "WhatsApp is auto-creating IDs, not letting me edit and postal service to a VPA (a UPI handle) hands, not doing scan and pay in UPI QR codes and it is non interoperable," said another executive in the written report.

On the other hand, industry torso Nasscom said that it hopes that in that location volition be a level playing field going forward. "I would await that the core principle of UPI — seamless interoperability (the U stands for Unified!) —will exist respected and interoperability will be more than conspicuously and visibly supported past WhatsApp going forrard. Information technology is early days and the production is in beta or airplane pilot," said Prasanto 1000 Roy, vice-president of Nasscom's Internet Council.

Sharma's statements have been met with a rather critical response from other companies besides. "WhatsApp has done a skillful payments app and other incumbents are but spreading fear," said Amrish Rau, Republic of india head of global payments firm PayU.

These are merely market gimmicks. WhatsApp is post-obit the usual process for UPI. Spreading rumors is non helping Digital India

Beebom'south Take

Paytm is already the country's largest digital payments company, and making such claims is not going to do good them in whatsoever mode. In fact, Sharma claims that "Paytm is the majority transaction driver of UPI followed by Google. Anybody else is (small)." In fact, ever since demonetization made its way to the country, Paytm was the biggest benefactor, cheers to being one of the first companies to be widely advertised as a digital payments platform.

Furthermore, the advertisements at the time of demonetization in Bharat used the epitome of PM Narendra Modi and seemingly had massive infrastructural support from the government, which helped push Paytm to pocket-size vendors and hawkers. The proliferation of Paytm QR codes helped developed India's trust in digital payments, so Paytm did have the bigger opportunity to capitalize on this, merely like WhatsApp has now.

What makes it seem fifty-fifty more of a example of sour grapes is that Paytm recently introduced an Inbox characteristic which lets users chat through the app, merely like WhatsApp, so clearly the company was moving in the management that WhatsApp has gone. Paytm is past far the first brand Indians recall of when talking about seamless digital payments, which is why its tirade against WhatsApp feels misplaced.