New Delhi : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its preliminary approval for Amazon, Google, and 30 other companies, including Reliance Jio Infocomm’s Reliance Payment Solutions, to operate as online payment aggregators.

Online payment aggregators are entities that onboard digital merchants and receive payment from customers on their behalf after obtaining a license from the payment regulator. The RBI had previously issued circulars on the “Guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways” in March 2020 and March 2021.

The list of payment aggregators that have received in-principle authorization includes various companies such as Amazon (Pay) India, Google India Digital Services, and Paytm’s rival, PhonePe.

However, some payment aggregator applications are still being processed, and others have been returned. The companies whose applications are still under review include Appnit Technologies, Bhartipay Services, and Instamojo Technologies. Meanwhile, Paytm, Freecharge Payment Technologies, PayU Payments, and Tapits Technologies are among the companies whose applications have been returned.

According to the RBI, stakeholders should only transact with existing payment aggregators that have been granted in-principle authorization or whose applications are under review. The central bank will update the list on a fortnightly basis.

Companies whose applications have been returned can reapply within 120 days from the date of the RBI’s decision. Paytm, which is among the companies whose applications were returned, stated that it is in the process of reapplying but emphasized that the situation does not have a significant impact on its online business and revenues. One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, can still onboard new merchants and offer payment services to them for its offline business.