Delhi HC issues notice in petition seeking suspension of Google Pay operation for not allowing UPI interoperability

The Delhi High Court has issued notice in a petition seeking immediate action against Google Pay and suspension of its operation for allegedly not allowing UPI interoperability. (Shubham Kapaley vs RBI & Ors).Noitice was issued to the Central Government, Reserve Bank of India, Google India Digital Service and other Respondents by a Single judge bench of Justice Asha Menon in the Petition preferred by one Shubham Kapaley (Petitioner). .The Petitioner chose to approach the High Court after Google Pay did not allow him to contribute to the PM CARES Fund, without making another VPA/UPI ID on its own app. .The Petitioner attempted to use his already existing VPA/UPI ID for other transactions as well, however, the same issue of denial of interoperability persisted. .In his grievance before the High Court, the Petitioner has argued that by denying interoperability of exiting UPI ID, GooglePay has acted in violation of Circulars issued by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in January 2017, which mandated an interoperable and accessible payment service by giving a choice to users to transact using their existing IDs..In view of the violation, the Petitioner has not only sought the suspension GooglePay's operations but has also prayed for a thorough third-party and independent investigation to check for compliance of every directive, guidelines issued by NPCI and RBI. .Interalia, the Petitioner also seeks initiation of "proper punitive action" and imposition of a "hefty penalty" of at least 10 times of the revenue of Google Pay. This fine may be contributed towards the COVID-19 Relief Fund in India, the Petitioner has suggested. .The Court has granted three weeks' time to GooglePay and others to file their response to the plea. .The matter would be listed for hearing after pleadings are completed. . The petitioner was represented by Advocates Abhimanyu Mahajan, Suneha Jain, Diksha Dhakre..RBI was represented by Advocate Ramesh Babu..Centre was represented by ASG Maninder Acharya with Standing Counsel Ripu Daman Bhardwaj..GooglePay was represented by Advocates Akhil Anand, Himanshu Vij, Vaibhav Kakkar..Read the Order: