NPCI soon to implement the compulsory user's consent to access the location data on the UPI app, the RBI guidelines remember.

Depending on digital price infrastructure and promoting economic inclusion, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will implement the compulsory buyer's consent to obtain access to the records on the UPI apps, and preserve the current structure issued through the way of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).GPS devices can enhance location accuracy, especially in rural and remote areas where digital connectivity is limited.

RBI’s Geo-Tagging Framework: Enhancing Payment Infrastructure

The RBI has delivered a comprehensive framework for geo-tagging of charge device touchpoints ; device for geo tagging of payments. Geo-tagging refers back to the method of capturing the geographical coordinates (range and longitude) of price reputation points consisting of PoS (Point of Sale) terminals and QR codes deployed by using traders. This flow is a part of the significant financial institution’s broader purpose to deepen digital charge penetration across India and make sure inclusive get admission to to digital financial offerings for all citizens, regardless of place or digital literacy.

Use Cases:

📌 BCs & CSPs – While setting up micro-ATMs, gps device for BC bank mitra and Aadhaar-enabled Payment Systems (AePS).

 📌 VLEs – During onboarding of merchants in rural areas for UPI QR or PoS machines.

 📌 PoS Deployments – For mobile PoS, self-service kiosks, and retail payment terminals.

Benefits of Using GPS Devices GPS device for bank POS:

• ✔️ High-accuracy for geo-coordinates (latitude & longitude) capture.

• ✔️ Reliable data collection in low-network places or offline areas.

• ✔️ Faster and accurate onboarding of merchants, BCs, CSPs, VLEs.

• ✔️ Smooth integration with Centralised Information Management System (CIMS).

• ✔️ Regulatory compliance with RBI , RBI circular on gps & NPCI geo-tagging guidelines.

Why Geo-Tagging Matters

With the rapid upward thrust of digital bills—specially thru UPI, which recorded transactions well worth ₹81 lakh crore with over five.Forty two billion transactions in FY22—there is a pressing need to screen and optimize the distribution of price infrastructure. The RBI’s geo-tagging initiative will permit banks and Payment System Operators, gps for payment system operators(PSOs) to:

• Track nearby penetration of virtual payments

• Assess infrastructure density throughout regions

• Identify underneath-served areas

• Plan centered virtual literacy tasks

• Support coverage selections with accurate records

• Scope of Implementation

To ensure the accuracy and reliability of geo-tagged facts across price gadget touchpoints, it's far quite recommended that banks, non-financial institution PSOs, and merchants do not forget integrating GPS gadgets or GPS-enabled structures in the course of infrastructure deployment and information series.

While many modern PoS terminals and smartphones already include in-built GPS talents, the use of devoted GPS gadgets can similarly beautify precision, particularly in rural or low-connectivity areas where mobile-based totally geo-tagging might also face barriers.

The RBI has labeled the fee atmosphere infrastructure into two vast categories:

1. Banking Infrastructure – Includes bank branches, ATMs, CRMs, micro-ATMs, and so forth.

2. Payment Acceptance Infrastructure – Includes PoS terminals, QR codes (Bharat QR, UPI QR), and other merchant-stage touchpoints.

As in keeping with the guidelines, all banks and non-bank PSOs have to maintain a registry of price touchpoints with complete region info and merchant records. They need to document this facts thru RBI’s Centralised Information Management System (CIMS). Furthermore, newly deployed touchpoints should be stated inside seven days of activation, and any updates or adjustments to existing touchpoints ought to be submitted inside seven days of such changes.

NPCI to Enforce User Consent for Location Data Access

Following RBI’s framework, NPCI will quickly make it mandatory for UPI apps to reap consumer consent before having access to any vicinity information. While get admission to to place information stays voluntary, NPCI’s flow will make sure that customers have greater manage over their statistics and that place get right of entry to is aligned strictly with person permissions.

However, this could pose technical and infrastructural demanding situations for fintech apps that closely rely upon vicinity information for imparting price-delivered services or constructing risk profiles based on geographical and demographic insights. Many such systems had been the use of location statistics to personalize economic merchandise for first-time credit customers. The obligatory consent requirement is probable to effect such practices and may require structures to reconsider their strategies.

What This Means for the Future

This step marks a critical shift within the way charge records is controlled and applied across the surroundings. By enforcing user consent and enhancing facts accuracy through geo-tagging, the RBI and NPCI cause to assemble a greater strong, inclusive, and obvious virtual fee environment. While annoying situations in implementation are expected, the lengthy-term blessings of better infrastructure planning and deeper virtual fee adoption will outweigh the transitional hurdles.

Implementation Timeline

While the RBI has laid down the framework and reporting requirements, the precise implementation timeline for obligatory reporting and user consent-primarily based records get entry to is but to be officially introduced. However, given the strategic importance of this initiative, banks, PSOs, and UPI app developers are anticipated to start aligning their structures and strategies quickly.

Conclusion

The NPCI’s upcoming implementation of mandatory person consent for having access to location statistics, as in line with RBI’s geo-tagging framework, is a superb flow toward a more dependent, person-centric digital payment environment. As digital bills continue to grow rapidly throughout India, such tasks will play a vital function in making sure accessibility, security, and equitable infrastructure improvement for each citizen.

Stakeholders inside the payments atmosphere need to examine the adoption of GPS gadgets as a great exercise, particularly in which cellphone-based geo-tagging might not provide enough accuracy or consistency.