Online cab service Uber has exclusively partnered Paytm to enable users make use of Paytm's prepaid wallet to pay for their tax rides. This follows reports from September this year which had suggested that Uber was in talks with Paytm and PayU to integrate a digital wallet with its payment process. Following this tie-up, users can now either make use of Paytm wallet or an International credit card to make payments. This tie-up was necessitated after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a directive that Card Not Present (CNP) transactions for purchases of goods and services in India had to be processed through Indian banks and payments needed to be made in Rupees in August this year. This directive was issued to stop the sidestepping of credit card norms by Uber which was earlier circumventing the RBI’s mandated 2-factor authentication by routing their transactions through foreign payment gateways. Uber's competitor Meru Cabs had asked Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) to extend its recurring billing guidelines to foreign players like Uber in July this year, thereby creating a level playing field among domestic and International players. It's also worth noting that Uber primarily acts as a taxi aggregator and doesn’t own these taxis. Hence, a closed wallet cannot be used for making these third party transactions. It would need a semi-closed prepaid wallet license or at least a tie-up with a company which has the same license. Paytm had secured prepaid wallet license from RBI in August last year. How it works? Users can head over to the payment section on Uber's mobile app, open a new wallet…
