Payment system operators in India can no longer issue new proprietary QR codes for mobile payments, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced.

The move is part of the RBI’s plan to implement a fully interoperable QR code infrastructure in 2022.

India’s two existing interoperable QR codes, UPI QR and Bharat QR “shall continue as at present”, the RBI’s directive states, while payment system operators using proprietary QR codes “shall shift to one or more interoperable QR codes; the process of migration shall be completed by March 2022”.

“No new proprietary QR codes shall henceforth be launched by any PSO for any payment transaction,” the directive continues.

The RBI says that it is now working “to standardise and improve interoperable QR codes” and that the measures it has announced “are expected to reinforce the acceptance infrastructure, provide better user convenience due to interoperability and enhance system efficiency”. 

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