RBI Compliance for Course Payments
RBI Compliance for Course Payments refers to the Reserve Bank of India's regulations governing online payment processing, recurring billing, refund handling, and data storage that every Indian course creator accepting digital payments must follow.
Key RBI regulations affecting course creators
- Recurring payment guidelines (effective April 2021) — if you offer subscription-based courses with auto-debit, RBI requires: explicit customer consent for each mandate, pre-transaction notification 24 hours before each debit, easy one-click cancellation, and a ₹15,000 per-transaction limit for auto-debit without additional authentication (raised from ₹5,000 in 2024).
- Tokenization rules — payment platforms can no longer store actual card numbers. Cards must be tokenized (replaced with encrypted tokens). This affects how your platform handles saved payment methods.
- Refund timelines — RBI mandates refund processing within specific timeframes: card payments within 5-7 business days, UPI within 48 hours, net banking within 5-7 business days.
- Data localization — payment data of Indian transactions must be stored on servers located in India. This affects your choice of payment gateway and platform.
What this means for course creators
- If you sell subscription courses (monthly access)
- your payment gateway must comply with RBI's recurring payment guidelines. Non-compliant setups will see auto-debits fail
- leading to churned students and lost revenue. If you offer EMI/installment plans
- each installment debit requires proper mandate setup. If you handle refunds
- process them within RBI timelines or face complaints to the banking ombudsman. If you use international platforms (Teachable, Kajabi with Stripe)
- verify that they comply with Indian data localization requirements
Common compliance mistakes by coaching institutes
Using personal UPI for business transactions (no GST trail, no formal refund process). Manually debiting students' accounts for renewals without proper consent. Not issuing proper receipts/invoices for payments received. Storing student payment details in spreadsheets or WhatsApp (data security violation). Processing refunds through personal accounts rather than the original payment method.
Skolasti handles RBI compliance through its integrated payment stack — UPI payments with proper transaction records, compliant payment processing, and automated invoicing. Course creators don't need to worry about regulatory requirements because the platform manages the payment infrastructure.