The GP's point isn't about RBI being a central authority, but about NPCI being granted a quasi-monopoly on retail payments despite being a non-government body.

The GP's point isn't about RBI being a central authority, but about NPCI being granted a quasi-monopoly on retail payments despite being a non-government body. One of the important recommendations from the Watal Committee report[x] was to restructure the NPCI-relationship: 1. Change ownership structure. It was 75% owned by 10 banks in India, with no seats for other players in the industry. 2. Allow competition to NPCI. This got envisioned in the recent push for a NUE[0], but with a lot of caveats. RBI ended up deferring the plan[1] 3. NPCI also is pushing heavily to move from a non-profit to a for-profit model: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/npci-turning-for-profit-could-help-key-stakeholders-11609083399751.html https://www.livemint.com/news/india/npci-turning-for-profit-.... This will significantly change the current incentives it holds. As an example of this conflict, RBI runs NEFT and RTGS for free as near-realtime transaction platforms for free, and now 24x7 (The 24x7 was a recommendation in the report). RBI does not charge banks for interchange on NEFT, but NPCI does charge for IMPS. [0]: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/npci-its-nue-competitor-and-the-push-for-retail-payments https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/npci-its-nue-competi... [1]: https://inc42.com/buzz/rbi-defers-its-plans-to-distribute-licence-for-nues/ https://inc42.com/buzz/rbi-defers-its-plans-to-distribute-li... [x]: https://dea.gov.in/sites/default/files/watal_report271216.pdf https://dea.gov.in/sites/default/files/watal_report271216.pd...