Uber is accepting credit card payments in India again

13 Jul 2015

In November, Indian authorities forced Uber to stop accepting credit card payments and instead switch to an in-app wallet payment system. Now, the e-hailing service has teamed up with payment processor MobiKwik to again take plastic while following the Reserve Bank of India’s strict regulations.

The issue stemmed from complaints lodged by local taxi services claiming Uber was violating Indian foreign exchange regulations by routing credit card payments to the Netherlands-based Uber BV. As pointed out by Tech In Asia, most of this cash was converted back to Indian currency when transferred to the company’s drivers. This violated laws to prevent fraud.

In response, Uber teamed up with Indian e-commerce firm Paytm to launch a mobile wallet that could be topped up using a credit card within the app. Now, in a new featured developed alongside mobile payments company MobiKwik, users of Uber India can pay for their trips by tapping the app’s credit card option and completing the steps for two-factor authentication.

“Adhering to RBI regulations, there shall be two-factor authentication flow built into the app and we’ll need you to enter your Online Banking Pin or One-Time Password before we can charge the fare to your card,” Uber said in a statement.

The new feature is available to all Android users right now and will be released to iOS in the next few weeks.

India image via Shutterstock

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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