The Payment & Settlement Act, which will define the legal framework for electronic payments, is likely to come into effect in the next two months, a top Reserve Bank official said here on Friday.

The Act has received Presidential assent and the government notification is awaited, RBI Chief General Manager A P Hota told reporters on the sidelines of a Payment Summit.

"We had sought public comments on the draft guidelines of the Act and yesterday was the last day to submit suggestions. We expect to analyse all comments and finalise guidelines in the next two months," Hota said.

The final guidelines, apart from defining regulations for various electronic payment systems, would enable RBI to monitor global payment gateways Visa and MasterCard.

"They (Visa & MasterCard) will have to apply for registration within six months of the final guidelines being released," Hota said adding the gateways would also have to make periodical submissions under these regulations.
The Act would also enable payment service providers to offer innovative payment solutions.

Clearing Corporation of India Ltd Chairman R H Patil said that the company was looking at launching two new products one each for the currency futures market and over-the-counter interest rates futures.

"Presently, we guarantee settlement in the spot market but there is no guarantee for forward contracts in forex market and OTC contract for interest rate futures," Patil said.