From e-cheques to payment ‘off switches’: RBI’s 2028 plan explained simply

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday introduced the 'Payments Vision 2028' document, announcing initiatives such as electronic cheques and widening the regulatory ambit to include entities such as e-commerce companies.

Its Payments Vision 2028 is about giving you more control, reducing fraud stress, and tightening how digital payments work behind the scenes.

An “on-off” switch for your digital payments

RBI is planning a facility where you can enable or disable transactions across any digital payment mode, similar to how card controls work today.

It’s a small feature on paper, but in real life, it could help you avoid fraud when you’re not actively using payment apps.

Fraud cases may become less stressful

Dealing with unauthorised transactions today can feel exhausting. RBI is looking to fix that with a shared liability approach.

E-cheques: old system, new upgrade

On the cheques front, the RBI said plans are afoot to review the design and security features for fraud prevention, apart from introducing electronic cheques

RBI said: “To leverage the unique benefits of paper-based instruments and the speed and reliability of electronic payments… the introduction of electronic cheques in India shall be explored.”

Online shopping payments may get tighter rules

RBI has flagged the growing role of e-commerce platforms in handling payments.

“E-commerce marketplaces and centralised platforms have been assuming significant responsibilities… the scope of direct regulations shall be extended to cover such entities,” the central bank said.

Payment companies under sharper watch

A new Cyber Key Risk Indicators (KRI) framework is being proposed for payment operators.

This basically means tighter, data-driven supervision, something that should translate into safer and more reliable apps for you.

More payment players to be regulated

RBI also plans to bring more systems, like Aadhaar-enabled and assisted payment providers, under its regulatory fold.

Switching banks could finally get easier

With a proposed Payments Switching Service, RBI wants to make bank migration smoother and less disruptive.

So if you ever want to move to a better bank, it may not feel like such a big task.

Sending money abroad may improve

RBI is also reviewing cross-border payments with a focus on improving efficiency and simplifying processes.

Over time, this could make international transactions faster and less complicated.

It is seeking to reimagine the card payments ecosystem in the country to empower cardholders and merchants with choice, introduce secure and smart tokenisation and orchestration, and facilitate transparent pricing.