RBI lifts business restriction on Diners Club & allows to onboard new customers

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed commercial limitations placed on Diners Club International Ltd, allowing the company to accept new customers in India.

The limitations have been abolished with immediate effect, according to a statement issued by the central bank. On April 23, 2021, the RBI barred Diners Club International Ltd from onboarding new domestic users into its card network beginning May 1, 2021 due to noncompliance with the Storage of Payment System Data rules.

“In light of Diners Club International’s satisfactory compliance with the RBI circular on Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed, vide order dated April 23, 2021, on on-boarding of new domestic customers have been withdrawn with immediate effect,” the RBI stated.

Along with Diners, the RBI had blocked American Express, another US-based payment system operator. The RBI also limited Mastercard in July 2021 for failing to comply with its local data storage requirements.

The RBI, however, has not yet lifted the prohibition on American Express and Mastercard.

The RBI directed all system providers in April 2018 to ensure that the entire data (full end-to-end transaction details, information collected and processed as part of the message and payment instruction) relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in India within six months.

They were also obliged to report compliance to the RBI and submit a Board-approved System Audit Report performed by a CERT-In accredited auditor within the timeframes indicated.

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