The Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Friday assured the Lok Sabha that he would soon bring a Bill to regulate the various payment systems in the country, including those operated by non-banks such as card companies.

He was replying to a question on credit cards in the Lok Sabha today. This assurance of the Finance Minister comes a day after the Union Cabinet cleared amendments to the Payments and Settlement Bill 2006, based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance. This Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 25, 2006.

The Bill seeks to empower RBI to regulate the various payments and settlement systems and also authorise the Central Bank to permit both gross and net settlement procedures.

Official sources said that most of the recommendations of the Standing Committee would form part of the amended Bill. Once the Bill is enacted by Parliament, Visa and MasterCard would be designated as payment systems and brought under the regulation of the RBI.