The Reserve Bank of India said foreign payment firms can process transactions made in India outside the country, but the related data should be brought back and stored in India within 24 hours. The stipulation applies to firms like Mastercard and Visa. The central bank clarified its April 2018 directive that said foreign firms should store their payments data only in India for unfettered supervisory access. In its clarification, the RBI has maintained its stand that payment transaction data of foreign firms should be stored in India, but the transaction can be processed outside the country. The earlier directive was silent on whether data can be processed abroad or should only be done locally. RBI also said while data can be processed abroad but such data should be deleted from the systems abroad and brought back to India within 24 hours of payment processing.
