About the Payments Council of India
- The Payments Council of India (PCI) is the apex non-profit industry association representing non-banking companies in India’s digital payments ecosystem.
- It was established in 2013 under the aegis of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) to address industry-level challenges and advocate policies that drive the growth of digital payments.
Objective & Representation
- Mission: Shares the vision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Government of India to promote a “Cash to Less-Cash Society” and deepen financial inclusion.
- Membership: Represents 140+ to 220+ members, covering 90-95% of non-bank players in digital payments, including Amazon Pay, Paytm, PhonePe, Razorpay, BillDesk, and Airtel Payments Bank.
Governance & Structure
- Leadership (2025-27): Chaired by Vishwas Patel (Joint MD, Infibeam Avenues/CCAvenue), with Co-Chairpersons M. N. Srinivasu (BillDesk) and Nalin Bansal (NPCI).
- Sectoral Committees: Operates eight dedicated committees covering Prepaid Payment Issuers, Merchant Aggregators and Acquirers, Payments Banks, International Remittance and Trade, Bharat Bill Payments Operating Units, Payments Network, UPI, and Payment Technology Enablers.
Key Initiatives & Regulatory Impact
- SRO Recognition: Floated the Self-Regulated PSO Association (SRPA), which received official Self-Regulatory Organisation status from the RBI to oversee compliance and dispute resolution among Payment System Operators.
- Project Pratima: A standardised icon library (Scan & Pay, Send Money, Check Balance) developed at the RBI’s request to improve trust and usability across payment apps, with a Phase 2 extending accessibility standards for visually impaired users.
- Position on UPI/MDR: Maintains that UPI stays free for consumers and small merchants (turnover up to ₹20 lakh), while advocating a nominal 0.3% Merchant Discount Rate on UPI and RuPay debit transactions for large merchants (~50 lakh enterprises) to fund infrastructure and cybersecurity.
- Policy Engagement: Engages with the RBI, Finance Ministry, and IFSCA on Card-on-File tokenization (ALT ID), the Payment Aggregator-Cross Border framework, escrow account guidelines, and extending the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund to soundboxes.
Conclusion
The PCI functions as the principal collective voice of India’s non-bank payment ecosystem, shaping regulatory dialogue on UPI economics, security standards, and financial-inclusion policy alongside the RBI and the Government of India.
| This concept has been elaborately discussed in the following article 7th GLOBAL FINTECH FEST 2026 |