Google Play Closes Auto Renewals Of App Subscriptions

CIOReviewIndia Team | Monday, 03 May 2021, 09:24 IST

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Google Play Closes Auto Renewals Of App SubscriptionsThe central bank has mandated that no new subscribers should be onboarded for recurring subscriptions until an online platform is compliant with its new framework for such transactions.

Google has asked developers to suspend free trials and introductory pricing plans on their apps as these modes of transaction fall under recurring payments.

Banks will need to send out a notification to the customers, five days before a recurring payment is slated, and allow the debit to go through only after the customer agrees to the transaction.

Google has halted all auto renewing subscriptions on Google Play Store, including free trials and introductory pricing plans to comply with an RBI notification that came out on March 31.

The central bank has mandated that no new subscribers should be onboarded for recurring subscriptions until an online platform is compliant with its new framework for such transactions. In response, Google has asked developers to suspend free trials and introductory pricing plans on their apps as these modes of transaction fall under recurring payments, according to developer community XDA.

Under the new rules, the RBI wants to incorporate an additional factor authentication (AFA) for recurring payments through payments card. Standing instructions (SI) registered on credit or debit cards for services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar as well as a host of other online services such as billers and insurance providers, among other things will get deactivated as the new rules kick in.

Also, banks will need to send out a notification to customers five days before a recurring payment is slated, and allow the debit to go through only after the customer agrees to the transaction. For auto-debit payments of over INR 5,000, banks will even need to send a one-time password (OTP) to the customer.

However, the Reserve Bank of India has extended the timeline for processing recurring online transactions from March 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021. This development came after several banks and payment gateways had sought additional time to comply with the central banks directive on automatic recurring payments.

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