US-based tech giant Google, which has big plans to be part of financial inclusion in India, has sought some more time to comply with Reserve Bank of India’s mandate for data localisation.

Sources in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that Google’s Chief Executive Officer, Sundar Pichai has told Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad that it will abide by all the conditions under Indian laws.

Pichai and Prasad met on August 29, at Google’s campus during the Minister’s visit to the Silicon Valley. “Pichai in the meeting has sought one or two months from the Indian government to comply with the RBI’s norms to store all the data related to its payment service, Google Pay, inside the country,” a senior official at MeitY said.

In April, the central bank directed payment system operators to store all data, including full end-to-end transaction details and information collected, within India to ensure security of users’ information. The operators have been asked to comply with instructions within six months, by October 15.

When asked about the extension sought by Google on meeting the data localisation mandate of RBI, a company spokesperson said, “We maintain that cross border data flows today are ubiquitous and an essential phenomenon for global economic activity and universal access to information. Soaring data flows generate more economic value and hence the socio-economic impact of restricting data flows must be thoroughly considered while framing any policy. There is a need to find practical and contemporary solutions to policy issues in line with global best practices. We have nothing to add at this point of time.”

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW