Google Pay (stylized as G Pay; formerly Pay with Google and Android Pay) is a digital platform and online platform system developed by Google to power in-app and tap-to-pay purchases on mobile devices, enabling users to make payments with Android phones, tablets or Watches.
As of January 8, 2018, the old Android Pay and Google wallet have unified into a single-payer system called Google Pay. Android Pay was rebranded and renamed as Google Pay. It also took over the branding of google chrome’s autofill features Google Pay adopts the features of both Android Pay and Google Wallet through its in-store, peer-to-peer, and online payments services. Google Pay uses near field communication (NFC) to transmit card information facilitating funds transfer to the retailer. It replaces the credit or debit card chip and PIN and magnetic stripes transaction by allowing the user to upload these in the Google Pay wallet.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has told the Delhi High Court that Google Pay is a third-party app provider (TRAP) and does not operate any payment systems. Therefore, its operations are not in violation of the payment and settlement System Act of 2007, RBI has told a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan.
RBI has also told the court that Google Pay does not operate any payment system, it does not find a place in the list of the authorized payment system operators published by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).
The RBI’s submissions came in response to a PIL by Financial economist Abhijit Mishra who has alleged that Google’s mobile payment app, Google Pay or GPay in short, was facilitating Financial transactions without the requisite authorization from RBI.
Mishra has claimed that GPay was acting as a payment system provider in violation of the Payments and settlements Act as it has no valid authorization from the central bank of the country to carry out such functions.
He has also contended that GPay does not figure in NPCI’s list of authorized payment systems operators’ released on March20, 2019.
The bench said the matter requires detailed hearing as its affects other third party apps and listed its hearing on July 22.
