Mumbai: India’s central bank has initiated a review of select digital wallets tied to electric vehicle (EV) services after the abrupt collapse of BluSmart, the country’s largest all-EV taxi service, left users unable to access funds loaded into the platform’s wallet.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is informally consulting EV charging operators and app-based platforms to assess consumer risk related to closed-loop wallets, which are only usable within specific apps. Unlike open wallets regulated by the RBI, these closed systems lack direct oversight, making them vulnerable if the platform shuts down.
BluSmart’s failure, amid fraud allegations, stranded thousands of users with inaccessible wallet balances. The company has told users refunds may take up to 90 days.
In response, the RBI is exploring options including:
Mandating escrow accounts to safeguard user funds.
Extending parts of its Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) regulations to large-scale closed wallets.
No formal decision has been made yet, but any new oversight could significantly impact India’s booming digital payment ecosystem, where prepaid balances are key to customer retention.
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