India's central bank slaps penalty on Amazon's payments unit

India's central bank has slapped Amazon Pay's India unit with a fine of over $373,300 for non-compliance with local guidelines surrounding know your customer and prepaid payment instruments norms.

The Reserve Bank of India said in a statement (PDF) that Amazon Pay (India) was non-compliant with certain provisions of the guidelines on prepaid payment instruments (required by a company to operate as a digital wallet) and know your customer issued by the central bank on KYC requirements, but did not elaborate precisely which rules were violated.

"Accordingly, notice was issued to the entity advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions. After considering the entity’s response, RBI concluded that the aforesaid charge of non-compliance with RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty," it said in a statement.

The fine comes at a time when the Indian central bank is toughening its compliance requirements for fintech and Big Tech firms in the country as it cracks down on money laundering and predatory business practices.

India is a key market for Amazon, which has deployed over $7 billion in the country over the past decade.

“We remain deeply committed to operating as per regulatory guidelines and maintaining a high compliance bar, while we innovate on behalf of our customers to offer them a safe and convenient payments experience. We continue to work closely with the authorities to share our commitment with them," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.