Apple Shelves Plans for Apple Pay in India After Facing Regulatory Issues and Technical Hurdles

Apple has temporarily halted plans to launch Apple Pay in India after facing troubles with regulators in the country and a few technical hurdles, according to The Economic Times. Specifically, Apple is said to be concerned about the Reserve Bank of India's recent data localization rule, which requires companies to store all of their payments data for local users only in India.

applepay
Because of this rule, numerous companies -- including Apple, Amazon, PayPal, WhatsApp, Visa, and MasterCard -- have faced uncertainties regarding the rollout of their respective mobile wallets in India. Apple is said to have gone so far as to meet with a few leading banks and the National Payments Corporation of India, which manages the country's Unified Payments Interface platform.

In addition, Apple has reportedly encountered a few technical and design hurdles surrounding Apple Pay's India launch, relating to the inclusion of Touch ID as a mode of authentication for payments in India on supported iPhones. The NPCI did not agree to this plan, because the country's UPI is based on a six or four-digit passcode to authenticate transactions and does not have support for smartphone-based biometric security features yet.

Following these hurdles, plans as of now have been shelved, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“Apple will not launch payments in India yet. They are waiting to see how the regulatory landscape shapes up,” one of them said.

The Apple Pay news is just the latest in a string of negative reports regarding Apple's attempt at expansion in India, one month after the company faced a potential legal threat over noncompliance with the Indian government's anti-spam iPhone app. Otherwise, the company has had trouble in the country due to ever-increasing taxes on imported smartphones, rising iPhone prices because of such taxes, and user frustration with poor Apple services like Apple Maps.

In an attempt to finally rectify these issues, Bloomberg in August reported that Apple is planning a completely revamped India strategy led by Apple executive Michel Coulomb. This includes better and longer-lasting retail deals with higher sales targets, the opening of official Apple retail stores in India, "overhauling" the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improving apps and services "aimed more closely at Indians."

Apple Pay was never mentioned as part of that strategy, so it doesn't appear that users in India will have a chance to use the company's mobile wallet anytime soon. Otherwise, Apple Pay is available in over two dozen countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, Russia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UAE, Brazil, Ukraine, Norway, and Poland.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: India

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
iphone 17 pro render majin bu

New iPhone 17 Pro Renders Highlight Apple Logo and MagSafe Design Changes

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:43 pm PDT by
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Image via Majin Bu. Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side. ...
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card Expanding to More Countries

Tuesday July 8, 2025 7:34 pm PDT by
Apple is expanding the ability to add an Apple Account Card to the Wallet app to more countries, according to backend Apple Pay changes. With iOS 15.5, Apple updated the Wallet app to allow users to add an Apple Account Card, which displays the Apple credit balance associated with an Apple ID. If you receive an Apple gift card, for example, it is added to an Apple Account that is also...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...

Top Rated Comments

beanbaguk Avatar
89 months ago
Superpower my backside. Abject poverty, no regulation, total lawless control over commercial copyright, corruption at the highest levels and highly sophisticated organised crime.....but they're launching rockets by piling huge amounts of money into a space program while children die from malnutrition, disease is rife and millions live in squalor.

Sounds like a superpower to me.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FriednTested Avatar
89 months ago
superpower by 2020 tho
We would have been. Had not this current government put us back by atleast 10 years.

Apple seriously needs to give up on India for the time being. The country isn’t ready yet.
It won’t be for another 10 years atleast.

India is a joke. It’s so anti business it’s hilarious.
Thriving businesses are coming to a stand still. I had a thriving business. Was forced to immigrate to Canada.

Agreed. I didn’t believe it before but it seems India is refusing Apple due to it being an American co
Nah. It’s just too much red tape and corruption.

I don't know to be honest. Google doesn't seem to be the Pro-American company like Apple does abroad ... in terms of perception. I mean Google's or Alphabet's Android is heavily entrenched there and shows diversity. Maybe it's because their CEO is Pichai Sundararajan (Sundar Pichai; as commonly known), was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India and went to school early on in provinces there. He pretty much is the epitome of Indian success now that he's at Google!

Cook ... born and bread in USA (education, etc) and let's face it ... doesn't seem much of a family man; which is very huge in their culture there. This is my assumption so don't take anything from it ... but I just somehow feel Apple is viewed as an American company not unlike 1984 where Google is not. Samsung is making great strides there too.
You really think 95% of the Indians even know who Sundar Pichai is?

Couldn't agree more.

From World Bank data:

* Access to electricity: 84.5% of population
* Literacy rate: 69%
* Extreme poverty rate ($1.90/day): 21.2%


Outside of that, you have the country not enforcing laws related to gang rape or honor killings of women.

It's crazy Indian regulators don't allow fingerprint authentication for Apple Pay but allows the above to go unnoticed.
Doesn’t allow it because they know they can’t hack it. Oh and you forget the lynching to death of numerous people because they were “suspected” of eating beeef. And the murderers being given a national flag salute when they died or being felicitated by the government.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
703541 Avatar
89 months ago
Superpower my backside. Abject poverty, no regulation, total lawless control over commercial copyright, corruption at the highest levels and highly sophisticated organised crime.....but they're launching rockets by piling huge amounts of money into a space program while children die from malnutrition, disease is rife and millions live in squalor.

Sounds like a superpower to me.
Let me tell you something.

Amazon
1. India was the 4th country after US, UK, Germany to get Amazon Alexa, far ahead of other European Countries.
2. India is one of a few countries to have a local Amazon Website.
3. Amazon has already invested around $5 Billion in India.

Walmart
1. Recently Invested $16 Billion in India by purchasing Flipkart.

Google
1. Google regularly holds events in India where they show features developed for Indian markets which may sometimes roll out globally. [Example - Offline Video]
2. Google already has its payment app in India - 'Google Tez'.

Apple
1. Apple is trying very hard to expand in India.
2. They have started manufacturing locally in India.


I find two possibilities here -

1. Either all the executives of the above tech companies are stupid as they are focusing so heavily on the Indian market.
2. You are smarter than all the executives of above companies.

Regarding the space program

India is the 3rd largest economy of world in terms of PPP [GDP $8.7 trillion] and 6th largest in terms of nominal GDP [$2.4 Trillion]

And Since expenditures such as Military spending and space programs are largely dependent on GDP rather than GDP per capita So India can very well afford its space program.

And BTW we are sending a manned space flight in next few years. None of the European Country has ever done that.

Also in a decade India will surpass every European Country in terms of nominal GDP.
It is already ahead in terms of GDP [Purchasing power Parity] than all other European countries.

World is a dynamic place. World order changes.

So please take off your rose tinted glasses and respect the new world order, where majority of Europe is in decline And India is growing.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vvs14 Avatar
89 months ago
superpower by 2020 tho
Lol. What has that got to do with India not having Apple Pay? We will be perfectly fine without Apple Pay. Or any Apple product to be honest. There are plenty of options available in India for online mobile based transactions. Apple needs India. India does not need Apple.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macintoshmac Avatar
89 months ago
I am from India. Posters before this post have some idea of India, and I feel sorry for my country that we have such a perception in the world and are somehow looked down upon without looking at both sides of the coin, and certainly not inside one's own backyard.

The discussion is about Apple halting the Apple Pay release, and I will stick to why that is. I will not digress into superpower perceptions and political nonsense this thread is getting into just because the first poster to reply to the Macrumors post set the tone so wrong.

There is only one reason that Apple Pay is facing hurdles in India, and that is NOT that the country wants its data within the country - that is okay - but that the government of the day is sure to be wanting some form of snooping possibility that the folks at Apple would be refusing to allow. Simple things such as Touch ID integration is on the payments backbone and frankly, India is capable of a lot, but the ill desire to turn everything into political mileage somehow, is hurting the end user in the long run.

About Samsung and Google, the less said the better.

The only reason Apple Pay is facing issues (not to be confused with Apple's overall issues in the country) is due to the fact that there is a chance that the government may not be able to snoop. The current government is hell bent on turning everything into political mileage for 2019. This is also probably payback to Apple, who refused to allow TRAI some stupid app-based access to message content (good Apple). Very recently, the government was mulling plans to ask networks to disengage and deregister iOS devices on their network to punish Apple for not allowing them that access.

Dear forum members, cut out the anger and the bile, please. Third world, developing nations are still humans. There is nothing to be earned looking at us condescendingly, that when we have so many poor and so many issues, we are thinking of space programmes and what not. Tell me, is there no poor man, no hungry man, no shelterless person in the developed countries anymore? :)

It is my request to you, be kind. Man is man, wherever he is, whichever country he belongs to, ultimately he belongs in this world only. There is nothing to be gained by looking down upon, and commenting like what I have read above. If at all, sympathise and look objectively at the country, the countrymen, the issues the people are facing. Look at both sides of the coin, it is the least that you can do. No?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kemal Avatar
89 months ago
Looks like a “Not invented here. “ problem.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)