Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) seems set to foray into the payments sector and is eyeing a payment aggregator license.
The Railway PSU recently received approval from the Registrar of Companies, NCT, Delhi and Haryana to alter the Main Objects Clause of the Memorandum of Association and insert a new clause to act as a Payment Aggregator.
Shareholders passed the special resolution at the annual general meeting on August 26. The Railway Ministry its approval to the proposal.
According to industry experts, IRCTC can now apply to the Reserve Bank of India for a license as a payment aggregator.
According to RBI guidelines, all Non-Bank Payment Aggregators require authorization from RBI under Payment and Settlement System Act, 2007, and the Memorandum of Association (MoA) of the applicant entity must cover the proposed activity of operating as a payment aggregator.
However, the application process and approval from the regulator could take some time.
Toward expansion
IRCTC already has an in-house payment gateway called I-PAY, which enables payments for booking tickets of rail, bus and air travel, and tour packages on the IRCTC website and mobile app.
“IRCTC already has a large user base, which may be interested in using its payment services. On getting RBI approval, it could also expand and tie up with other merchants and provide various offerings,” a source said, adding that it would look at all kinds of digital payments.
According to its AGM notice, as a payment aggregator, IRCTC would provide, promote, develop, design and carry on the business of all types of electronic and virtual payment systems services, payment gateway and aggregator services, prepaid and post-paid payment instruments, payment systems including open, closed, semi closed systems of payment instruments, in India and abroad.
It would also operate as a bill payment gateway to provide bill payment services for utility bills, fees and municipal taxes under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) guidelines including carrying on the business of developing and providing services in the field of electronic commerce, mobile commerce web based or related technology and applications.