RBI bans American Express and Diners Club

Current Context: The Reserve Bank has restricted American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International Ltd from onboarding new domestic customers onto their card networks from 1st May 2021.

• They are restricted because of violating data storage norms.
• Both the entities were authorised to operate card networks under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act). And it was found that both the entities were not following the directions on Storage of Payment System Data setup by RBI.
• In April 2018, RBI imposed regulations under the PSS act for the Storage of Payment System Data to payment system providers. The regulation was to ensure that within a period of six months the entire data (full end-to-end transaction details/information collected/carried/processed as part of the message/payment instruction) relating to payment systems operated by them should be stored in a system only in India.
• Also, payment system providers were required to report compliance to RBI and submit a System Audit Report (SAR) conducted by a CERT within Dec 2018.

Question: 

Q.1 RBI has restricted American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International Ltd from onboarding new domestic customers onto their card networks from ___?
a. 1st May 2021
b. 1st June 2021
c. 1st Jan 2022
d. 1st Nov 2021