We missed this earlier: Netflix has started accepting UPI Autopay, it has emerged. The company announced the feature on August 30. Netflix is accepting Autopay via BHIM and Paytm for the moment, which means that if you want to pay via UPI, you can only do so through those two apps. Netflix has only accepted two payment methods in India since its launch: debit or credit cards, and postpaid bills of telcos or ISPs. UPI Autopay is a payment system announced last year by the National Payments Corporation of India that replicates the effect of recurring card payments with UPI. This new option, though, came without much fanfare. And that is understandable — the company was likely forced by the Reserve Bank of India regulations to wean off its dependence on people paying with a credit card. The regulations are part of an undercurrent of government activity that is pushing customers towards homegrown ecosystems after decades of digital transactions in the country being powered by international card networks. Here's why. What did the RBI do? Netflix may suffer a significant subscriber quantity setback by the end of the year in India, even with its new payment option. The RBI over 2019 and 2020 announced two new requirements: Framework for processing of e-mandates on recurring online transactions, August 2019 Guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways, March 2020. The long and short of these rules is that they require banks to issue notifications to customers before and after a…
