The Reserve Bank of India published its Payments Vision 2028 in late March, setting out fifteen initiatives for the country's digital payments infrastructure. The document, themed "Shaping India's Payment Frontier," charts actions through December 2028. It shifts regulatory focus from expanding digital payment adoption toward strengthening trust, fraud prevention, and cross-border interoperability.
The central proposal is the Payments Switching Service (PaSS). PaSS would enable customers to transfer payment mandates and instructions when switching banks or during institutional mergers. It addresses a friction point where customers changing their primary banking relationship must re-register payment instructions across UPI, NACH, and other platforms individually.
The RBI will extend the switch-on/off facility to all digital payment modes including UPI, NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS. This facility is currently available only for card transactions. Users will be able to enable or disable payment channels they are not actively using, targeting fraud vectors that exploit dormant payment registrations.
A Shared Responsibility Framework for unauthorized digital transactions proposes that both the issuing bank and the beneficiary bank share liability. Under the current system, only the issuing bank bears responsibility. The change would increase incentives for beneficiary banks to implement controls against receiving proceeds from fraudulent transactions.
The Vision introduces plans for electronic cheques with enhanced security features. It proposes widening the regulatory perimeter to cover e-commerce companies and other entities currently outside RBI's payment oversight framework. For MSMEs, an interoperability framework for Trade Receivables Discounting Systems (TReDS) would create a more integrated receivables financing market.
A Cyber Key Risk Indicators framework for non-bank Payment System Operators will enable continuous cybersecurity monitoring. The Vision follows the constitution of the Payments Regulatory Board under new PRB Regulations earlier in March. India's digital payments processed over 185 billion UPI transactions in FY2025. The system now handles over 20 billion transactions monthly.