By CA Manoj Kohli 6th May 2011 Relaxing the norms for making payments using mobile phones, known as m-wallet, the Reserve Bank decided to increase the limit of money-loading to Rs 50,000 from the existing limit of Rs 5,000.
“The maximum value of such prepaid semi-closed m-wallet shall not exceed Rs 50,000,” a RBI notification said.
Leading mobile operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone had tied up with SBI and ICICI Bank respectively to offer such facilities to their subscribers.
The central bank has also decided to treat semi-closed mobile wallet on par with the other semi-closed prepaid instruments.M-wallet can be used for various services like payment of utility bill including electricity, water telephone or mobile phone, insurance premium, cooking gas payments, ISP for internet or broadband connections, cable or direct to home (DTH) subscriptions and citizen services by government.