E-commerce: RBI allows banks to use e-payments for imports

Mumbai: In order to facilitate e-commerce, RBI Thursday permitted banks to enter into pacts with Online Payment Gateway Service Providers (OPGSPs) for import payments.

The facility, the RBI added will "only be available for import of goods and software (as permitted in the prevalent Foreign Trade Policy) of value not exceeding USD 2,000".

Foreign entities, desirous of operating as OPGSP, will have to open a liaison office in India with the approval of the Reserve Bank before operationalising the arrangement with any bank.

Domestic entities functioning as intermediaries for electronic payment transactions and intending to undertake cross border transactions will have to maintain separate accounts for domestic and cross border transactions.

RBI had earlier permitted banks to offer the facility to repatriate export related remittances by entering standing arrangements with OPGSPs in respect of export of goods and services. The limit has been fixed at fixed at USD 10,000.

E-commerce in India has been growing at a blasting pace, driven by affordable smartphones and increasing Internet penetration.

Internet and Mobile Association of India estimates the overall e-commerce market, of which e-tail is a segment, at USD 16 billion. The e-tail market in India is expected to grow 10 times to USD 50 billion by 2020.