Google agrees to store data on payment business in India: Govt

NEW DELHI: Google has agreed to abide by the RBI's mandate on storing financial data related to payments in India, but has sought "a little extra time"- between one and two months - to comply with the regulation, a top IT ministry official has said. The assurance was given by Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the recent visit of IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to the US, and marks a significant shift in the American search giant's stance on data localisation, the official, who was part of the discussions, said.

"We will abide by all conditions that are being stipulated by the Indian government and regulators regarding the payments service," the official quoted Pichai as telling Prasad during their meeting. A Google spokesperson refused to confirm the development.

A spokesperson for Google emphasised the need for free flow of data across the borders.

"We maintain that cross-border data flows today are ubiquitous and an essential phenomenon for global economic activity and universal access to information. Soaring data flows generate more economic value and hence the socio-economic impact of restricting data flows must be thoroughly considered while framing any policy," the spokesperson said, adding, "There is a need to find practical and contemporary solutions to policy issues in line with global best practices. We have nothing to add at this point of time."

Google had launched its payments service in September last year as 'Tez' to enable transactions using UPI. However, with 22 million active users and over 750 million transactions since launch, the Mountain View, Californiaheadquartered company re-positioned the service as 'Google Pay' in August this year.

Concerned over safety and security of the transactions and in order to have a stricter monitoring, the RBI had issued a notification on April 6, asking companies to store data related to financial transactions within India. "All system providers shall ensure that the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them are stored in a system only in India. This data should include the full end-to-end transaction details / information collected / carried / processed as part of the message / payment instruction," the central bank said, adding that compliance to the mandate should be reported by October 15.

The official source said that Google has requested for an extension to meet the mid-October deadline. "They have sought around 1-2 months extra, and the government is now considering their request."

In February this year, investment banking firm Credit Suisse forecasted that digital payments will witness strong growth in India, especially after the entry of global players.