NANDAN NILEKANI TO HEAD RBI COMMITTEE ON DIGITAL PAYMENTS

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday constituted a high-level committee headed by former Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani to set up a robust digital payments ecosystem in the country.

The committee has been asked to review the existing status of digitization of payments, identify gaps in the ecosystem and suggest ways to plug them.

According to its terms of reference, the panel has to suggest a medium-term strategy for deepening digital payments, and measures to strengthen safety and security. “The committee shall submit its report within a period of 90 days from the date of its first meeting,” the RBI said.

The terms of reference also include: “To undertake cross country analyses with a view to identify best practices that can be adopted in our country to accelerate digitization of the economy and financial inclusion through greater use of digital payments.”

Besides Nilekani, the other members of the panel are former RBI deputy governor HR Khan, former managing director and CEO of Vijaya Bank Kishore Sansi, former secretary in the IT ministry Aruna Sharma and chief innovation officer at the Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship, IIM Ahmedabad, Sanjay Jain.

Meanwhile, a high-level panel led by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan held its first meeting to decide on the size of reserves the central bank should maintain and the dividend it should give to the government. The sixmember panel is likely to submit its report in April, officials said.