User permission must for UPI-based apps capturing location data

The National Payments Corporation of India has directed that all Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based applications while capturing their location or geographic coordinates, must take prior consent from the customers.

In a circular, the corporation said if the customer has already given consent to share the location initially while availing of the services and subsequently wants to revoke the consent, the provisions for the same must be available without any denial.

"Apps should continue to provide the UPI services even after the customer has revoked the consent for sharing the location or geographical details for the app," the circular added.

For all cases wherein the customer has given consent to capture the location, the same should be correctly passed to the UPI, and any violation will attract strict action from the corporation.

In case the customer denies giving consent, the service provider should not deny or disable the payment services, it added. All the said guidelines are meant for individual domestic UPI transactions only, and all the members must comply with them by December 1, 2022.

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