WhatsApp Feels It's Being Singled Out in India Over WhatsApp Payments Delay

WhatsApp'south UPI-based WhatsApp Payments has so far been available to but a limited set of users in Bharat, and its wider rollout has been delayed due to reasons such as opposition from rivals, ambiguous language nigh data sharing with Facebook, lawmakers and Facebook's own troubles with information scandals. Insider sources have at present revealed that WhatsApp feels its payments service is being singled out by the government, while its rivals are enjoying an unfair advantage.

Due to the hurdles in the wider rollout in Republic of india, the company is now exploring the option of releasing the payments feature in other countries, a source told Economic Times on atmospheric condition of anonymity.

The government's need is that WhatsApp store all the payments data on servers located in India, and if WhatsApp fails to comply with it, the wider roll-out of its payments service won't be feasible. One of the cardinal concerns hither is WhatsApp's data sharing infrastructure with Facebook. The company has claimed that it is using Facebook infrastructure to facilitate payments, which has raised concerns regarding the prophylactic of user data, especially in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The same point was mentioned in a letter sent past the It ministry to the the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). WhatsApp is reportedly willing to store data in India likewise equally servers located in other countries, simply the authorities's demand of hosting the same exclusively in Bharat is yet nether consideration.

The source added that WhatsApp'south regulatory compliance is same as that of Google, but the payments service of its parent company besides equally rivals are getting a preferential handling by the authorities over data storage policies. As per the source, consummate localization of user data will mean 'redesigning for Republic of india only, and that volition wearisome down innovation for India'.

Some other source added that the obstacle in WhatsApp Payments' wider scroll-out can not be seperated from the company'south recent tiff with the regime over the spread of fake news via the messaging platform. Moroever, Facebook has rejected the IT ministry'due south demand to create a feature that would interruption finish-to-end encryption and allow officials to trace the source of imitation news and incendiary content. These new developments might likewise play a role in farther delaying the wider roll-out of WhatsApp Payments in India.