How do I check if a payment platform is RBI authorised?

Before a freelance developer, a translation agency or a consulting firm gives clients a platform's account details, it is worth spending five minutes on RBI's own website. Marketing pages describe status loosely; RBI's lists are the record.

How do you check a platform's RBI status, step by step?

Check RBI's two published lists in this order:

1. Find the Indian legal entity. Look in the platform's terms or footer for its Indian company name, which often differs from the brand.
2. Search RBI's list of Certificates of Authorisation. RBI publishes it under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, with a section for payment aggregators; the list checked for this page is dated 16 October 2026.¹
3. Read the category. For export receipts, look for PA-CB-I (cross border, inward) or PA-CB-I & O (inward and outward). An entry marked only PA-CB-O handles outward payments, not exports.¹
4. If the name is missing, check the Status of Applications page. RBI lists applications under process, those with in-principle authorisation, and those returned, withdrawn or refused, with a note on which entities can or cannot operate.²

What does in-principle authorisation mean?

In-principle authorisation means RBI has not yet granted full authorisation. RBI's Status of Applications page says in-principle authorisation is not authorisation under section 7 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.² The tables on that page also say whether each group of applicants can operate in the meantime, so read the table heading as well as the status.²

Which payments fall under the PA-CB rules at all?

Not every international payment does. RBI's Master Direction on Regulation of Payment Aggregator says a card transaction where a card network handles the foreign exchange settlement and the aggregator receives local currency is not PA-CB activity, and banks do not need payment aggregator authorisation.³ A wire to your own bank is outside the list entirely.

What else should you check?

RBI status is one of several checks. Also read the platform's published fees, remittance certificate (FIRA or FIRC), purpose code handling and per-transaction limits; RBI caps each PA-CB transaction at ₹25 lakh.³ The full method is in how to check if a payment aggregator is RBI authorised, and the current list is summarised in the PA-CB licence list.