BharatPe gets in-principle approval from RBI to operate as online payment aggregator

In the last few months, several other fintech players, including Open, Infibeam, and Cashfree, got the nod for the PA licence.

Fintech unicorn BharatPe has received an in-principle authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator (PA). A 100 percent-owned subsidiary of the company, named Resilient Payments Private Limited, has won the approval.

In December, digital payment processing firm Worldline ePayments India and fintech startup Paysharp had also received in-principle authorisation from the RBI to act as a PA.

In the last few months, several other fintech players, including Open, Infibeam, and Cashfree, got the nod for the PA licence.

A payment aggregator provides payment services to merchants and e-commerce sites by accepting payment instruments from customers. They pool the funds received from customers and transfer them to merchants after a certain time.

Their services include facilitating integrated payment options such as transactions of cash and cheque and online and offline touchpoints, besides allowing bank transfers for merchants without the need to set up accounts directly with a bank.

In a new set of guidelines in March 2020, the RBI said all PAs have to be authorised by it.

The RBI instructed non-bank companies offering PA services to apply for authorisation by June 30, 2021. The deadline was later extended to September 30, 2021. Over 185 fintech firms and start-ups had submitted applications for a PA licence. The few firms authorised to operate come under the direct purview of the central bank.

Nalin Negi, CFO and interim CEO, BharatPe, said “This in-principle approval will help catapult our expansion plans and enable us to reach out to millions of more unbanked and underserved merchants, provide digital payment acceptance solutions and in turn, get them to be a part of the Digital India story.”

The final authorisation is subject to fulfillment of certain conditions. BharatPe will now commence work on fulfilling the said conditions within the prescribed timeline and launch the said online PA business upon the receipt of the final authorisation from RBI.

The company has been embroiled in controversies ever since former managing director Ashneer Grover and key investors fell apart. Following a series of key exits, the fintech unicorn reported that its revenue grew 169 percent to Rs 321 crore in FY22, whereas loss widened 89 percent to Rs 5,594 crore during the period.