You are likely to face problems with automatic payments for phone bills, OTT fees starting April

The development comes as major banks have failed to comply with RBI’s new regulations for the processing of e-mandates. The deadline to comply with these mandates is March 31, 2021.

Customers who have saved automatic payment options for phone bills, OTT fees, or other digital subscriptions are likely to face problems starting April. They may have to look for alternative payment methods as payments are not likely to get through. The Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has given out a prior warning to millions of users noting that e-mandates set by customers could fail starting April 1, 2021. The recurring payments through debit and credit cards will be affected while payments using UPI’s AutoPay feature will not. The failure in automatic payments will subsequently affect companies like Amazon, Netflix, Vodafone Idea and Tata Power. ET cited sources that said there are complexities in the implementation of the new rules as a common integration between the issuing bank, the acquiring bank and online merchants are required for authentication messages.According to the report, HDFC bank, ICICI Bank, SBI as well as card scheme operators like American Express and Mastercard are notifying network partners about their inability to process standard instructions recurring mandate-based payments. Vendors have also suggested alternate payment methods to users.