The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Friday (December 29) announced the launch of an Application Supported by Blocked Amount or ASBA-like facility in the secondary market after getting the go-ahead from SEBI.
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for the secondary market will start its beta phase next week for the equity cash segment. It will be supported by key stakeholders, including clearing corporations, stock exchanges, depositories, stockbrokers, banks, and UPI app providers.
NPCI stated that in the initial phase, this functionality will be available for a limited set of pilot customers.
During the pilot, investors can block funds in their bank accounts, which will only be debited by the clearing corporations upon trade confirmation during settlement. These payouts will be directly processed to these clients on a T+1 basis, which means that any trade settlements must be completed within one day from the day of the transaction.
This beta launch is facilitated by the brokerage app, Groww and UPI apps, BHIM, Groww and Yes Pay Next. Initially, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank customers will be able to avail this facility.
Moreover, HDFC Bank, HSBC, ICICI Bank, and Yes Bank are acting as sponsor banks for the clearing corporation and exchanges.
Other stakeholders, including stockbrokers such as Zerodha, banks like Axis Bank and Yes Bank, and UPI apps like Paytm and PhonePe, are in the certification stage and set to participate in the beta launch soon.
