Despite giving the banks over 20 months to prepare for the new norms for auto-debit of payments, the large scale of non-compliance has led to the RBI extending the timeline of implementation by 6 months.
Starting April 1, a customer's e-mandate transactions for bill payments and subscription renewals needed to be given approval by the customer to remain active. Auto-initiated payments for mobile phone, broadband, DTH, electricity, water and other utilities bill were likely to be impacted the most.
However the banks were largely still unprepared for this which would have out the payment mechanisms at a complete standstill. Noting the gap the central bank has extended the timeline to September 30 but also added a warning.
The RBI stated "Any further delay in ensuring complete adherence to the framework beyond the extended timeline will attract stringent supervisory action."