Mobile VAS and Internet products company Spice Digital has received a semi-closed pre-paid payments wallet license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI website shows that the company was given the license earlier last month and is valid till up to June 30, 2020. #Spice #Digital Ltd has been authorised by the RBI for semi-closed prepaid payment instrument services in India. pic.twitter.com/xMhMWjreo5 — Spice Digital (@spicedigital4u) May 20, 2015 Nachiket Mor committee recommendations and payments banks It's worth remembering that the Nachiket Mor committee in its report had recommended ending the prepaid payments instrument (PPI) license and that companies should instead apply for a payments bank license instead. Given the difficulties being faced by PPIs and the underlying prudential concerns associated with this model, the existing and new PPI applicants should instead be required to apply for a Payments Bank licence or become Business Correspondents. No additional PPI licences should be granted. However, The RBI in its final guidelines for payments banks said that companies with existing PPI licenses could opt to convert to a payments bank license and that it was not mandatory for an existing PPI issuer to apply for the same and it may continue as a PPI issuer. Existing PPI players who have applied for a payments bank license include Paytm, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, MobiKwik, Itz Cash and Reliance Industries. So far, the RBI has received 41 applications for payments banks. If Spice Digital is looking at a payments bank license, then it seems that it…
