Supreme Court issues notice in PIL seeking protection of user data collected on UPI platforms by corporations

The Supreme Court today issued notice in a PIL seeking directions to ensure that the data of Indian citizens collected on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platforms is not misused by corporations such as WhatsApp, Google Pay etc..The Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice in the plea filed by Communist Party of India MP Binoy Viswam, even as counsel representing Facebook and WhatsApp opposed its filing..Appearing for Facebook, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that there already are two petitions pending before the Court in relation to WhatsApp's payment service, even as the social media giant has complied with the requirements..Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, arguing for WhatsApp, told the Court that it had been previously submitted that WhatsApp payment services will not be rolled out till all the requirements are complied with. "Why should a petition be kept pending before the Court then? There is no cause of action," Sibal said..Will not roll out payments service without complying with all the norms: WhatsApp tells Supreme Court.CJI Bobde, however, pointed out that the concerns raised in the instant petition are different. Appearing for Viswam, Senior Counsel Shyam Divan explained that the petition calls for protection of the data collected by these services on their UPI platforms. Divan highlighted that the service providers are required to have their servers in india as one of the conditions laid down by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This, Divan argued, is where WhatsApp was not in compliance..Just as the Court was issuing notice, Rohatgi and Sibal urged for a short date, with the latter counsel suggesting that regulatory bodies often do not act on the grounds that the matter is pending before the Court..The Court, however, did not indicate a specific date, and proceeded to issue notice..Senior Counsel Arvind Datar represented one of the respondents. Divan was assisted by Advocates Sriram Parakkat and MS Vishnu Shankar..This petition filed by Viswam prays for the Apex Court to direct the RBI to formulate regulations to ensure that the data collected by big corporations on UPI platforms is not misused and that the right to privacy of the citizens in this regard is not violated..CPI MP Binoy Viswam moves Supreme Court seeking protection of data collected on UPI platforms from misuse by giant corporations.Referring to giant corporations such as Google, Amazon and WhatsApp, the petitioner prays that RBI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) ensure that the data collected by these entities for the purpose of facilitating payments is not shared with their parent companies or any other third parties..It is claimed by the petitioner that while the RBI and NPCI are obligated to protect the data of Indian citizens, these bodies are, on the contrary, compromising the interests of the people "by allowing the non-compliant foreign entities to operate its payment service in India.".Millions of Indians use UPI platforms for making payments and with the RBI and NPCI allowing the "Big Four Tech Giants" to participate in this UPI ecosystem without much scrutiny, sensitive financial data of the Indian citizens is at risk of being misused, the petition says.."This conduct of the RBI and the NPCI puts the sensitive financial data of Indian users at huge risks, especially when these entities have been continuously accused of abusing dominance, and compromising data, among other things.".It is pertinent to note that two separate petitions highlighting WhatsApp's non-compliance with data localisation norms are already pending before the Supreme Court..Continuously taking up matter with NPCI resulted in compliance from WhatsApp: RBI affidavit in Supreme Court