Reply within four weeks on WhatsApp payment service: SC to Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and messaging service provider WhatsApp after a plea sought direction to restrain the app from proceeding with its payments systems unless it fully complies with RBI's provisions.

A bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Indu Malhotra sought response from WhatsApp, Law and Justice Ministry, Finance Ministry and Information Technology Ministry within four weeks.

Advocate Virag Gupta, appearing for the petitioner Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change, contended that the messaging platform does not comply with provision of mandating a Grievance Officer and other laws of India including Know Your Customer (KYC) norms laid down by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The plea said that while companies like Facebook and Google have appointed Grievance Officers for users in India, WhatsApp had not.