WhatsApp has been planning to offer digital payment services and there are concerns about the move, against the backdrop of the recent row over Pegasus spyware.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Supreme Court lawyer Khushbu Jain shared her views on the subject and the rules and regulations that need to be changed.

“One side of the issue is the recent row over spyware Pegasus, where there has been some seep in through WhatsApp video calls. The other side of the matter is that WhatsApp is trying to launch its digital payment services. The plan is stuck due to some data localisation norms in India issued by Reserve Bank of India,” she said.

“The RBI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) got together to look into the payment security and data localisation norm, which says that the entire user and financial data has to be saved in data centres in India and anything which is going abroad has to be deleted within 24 hours,” she added.

“The infrastructure required for data localisation is large. So the government has requested the RBI and NPCI to look into the security aspect side of it and see whether WhatsApp payment is capable of doing it. So looking at security aspect, looking at the kind of reach it has, the company has to be cyber-secured,” said Jain.