Owing to the onerous Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations, Apple will stop accepting credit and debit cards for purchases or subscriptions on the App Store or other Apple services in India from June 1, the company said in an email sent to customers. "Apple will no longer store card information on file — protecting your payment method is our top priority," the email states. To avoid interruptions to subscriptions and other purchases, Apple has advised customers to do the following: Add UPI or Net Banking as a payment method Add funds to Apple ID balance The above process indicates that the only way to pay for subscriptions is through funds in Apple ID balance. "Your subscriptions will continue as long as you have a sufficient balance. If you are an Apple Music, TV+, iCloud+ or third-party subscriber and we cannot renew your subscription, your subscription will automatically expire," the email reads. If a company with the resources of Apple is finding it difficult (or unnecessary) to comply with the new RBI regulations, it's telling that the negative consequences of these regulations on smaller companies will be immense. What are the new RBI regulations? There are two new regulations that have resulted in this situation: Auto-debit mandates: Customers will need to use two-factor authentication and set up a new e-mandate for recurring payments such as subscriptions. Then, for each recurring transaction above Rs 5,000, users will receive a message from the bank 24 hours before processing the transaction. The user will have to…
