What are PA-CB Licensing Norms?
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced guidelines to regulate Payment Aggregators – Cross Border (PA-CB) entities. They facilitate online cross-border payment transactions for the import and export of permissible goods and services. The norms require non-bank PA-CBs to obtain authorization from the RBI, maintain a minimum net worth of ₹15 crore at the time of application, and increase it to ₹25 crore by March 31, 2026. PA-CBs must comply with the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and other regulatory requirements to keep up with secure and efficient cross-border transactions.
Existing State of things
Since the implementation of these norms over a year ago, only four entities – Cashfree Payments, Amazon Pay, BillDesk, and Adyen India – have received the necessary licenses to operate as PA-CBs. This is in contrast to the 41 companies approved to operate as domestic online payment aggregators. The limited number of licensed PA-CBs is attributed to the compliance requirements which includes adherence to FEMA regulations.
