Mumbai:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday constituted a high-level committee under Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani to suggest measures to strengthen the safety and security of digital payments in the country. The five-member panel has been constituted to encourage digitisation of payments and enhance financial inclusion through digitisation, the RBI said in a statement. “The committee shall submit its report within a period of 90 days from the date of its first meeting.”

 

The panel has been tasked with reviewing the existing status of digitisation of payments in the country, identifying the current gaps in the ecosystem and suggesting ways to bridge them and assessing the current levels of digital payments in financial inclusion. It will also “suggest measures to strengthen the safety and security of digital payments… (and) a road map for increasing customer confidence and trust while accessing financial services through digital modes”.

 

It had also been asked to undertake cross-country analyses with a view to identifying best practices to accelerate digitisation of the economy and financial inclusion through greater use of digital payments.

 

Another term of reference of the panel, the RBI said, was to suggest a medium-term strategy for deepening of digital payments.

 

Besides Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, other members of the panel include former RBI deputy governor H.R. Khan, former MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank Kishore Sansi and former secretary in ministries of IT and steel Aruna Sharma. The fifth member is Sanjay Jain, chief innovation officer, Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad.