India bars Mastercard from issuing new debit or credit cards

According to details, the Reserve Bank of India which is country’s central bank has accused the service provider of violating data storage laws and barred them from issuing cards to domestic customers.

The central bank said that Mastercard had not followed the rules that demanded foreign card networks to store data on Indian payments exclusively in India.

"Notwithstanding (the) lapse of considerable time and adequate opportunities being given, the entity (Mastercard) has been found to be non-compliant with the directions of Storage Payment System Data," the RBI said in a notification.

It added that Mastercard will be prohibited from issuing debit, credit or prepaid cards to from 22 July onwards. However, the decision will not impact the existing customers.

Meanwhile, Mastercard has not issued any statement or clarification as yet.

In 2019, the leading card service provider had announced to invest a billion dollars over the next five years as part of its expansion plans in India.