The Reserve Bank of India has told e-commerce companies that they will not be allowed to save card information on their websites from January 1. Aimed to improve data security  and users will have to re-enter credit or debit card details every time they do online transactions. The RBI has ordered all companies in India to delete saved credit and debit card data from their systems from January 1, 2022.

Users not wishing to enter their details each time they do a transaction will have to give consent to e-commerce companies and other online platforms to “tokenise”.

Under tokenisation, card details are replaced by a code or token, generated by an algorithm, which does not expose card details. Users who don’t opt for tokenisation will need to manually punch in card details each time they carry out an online purchase. Once the e-commerce platform receives the encrypted details or token, customers can save that card for future transactions.The RBI’s directive will also apply to companies such as Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato and Swiggy etc.

In April 2018, the RBI issued a circular notifying all payment networks to store data locally, including end-to-end transaction details, and information collected, carried, and processed as part of the message or payment instruction.

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The Reserve Bank of India is the supreme monetary and banking authority in the country. It keeps the cash reserve of all scheduled banks and hence is known as Reserve Bank. It was established on April 1, 1935.

T hough originally privately owned, since nationalization in 1949, the Reserve Bank is fully owned by the Government of India. Its main function includes; formulate, implements and monitors the monetary policy, prescribes broad parameters of banking operations within which the country’s banking and financial system functions, Manages the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, Issues and exchanges or destroys currency and coins not fit for circulation, Banker to the Government: performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments; also acts as their banker. RBI Governor SHAKTIKANTA DAS