Observing that “the obligation to protect data must be brought if the public interest and criminal proceedings intersect,” said the Karnataka High Court that digital payments such as PhonePe do not have a complete immunity before the publication of confidential information on transactions/accounts of registered users for investigation.
“Consumer privacy cannot arrest the statutory imperative of the investigation of officers to ensure evidence and make an investigation to its logical conclusion. Confidentiality must coexist with liability,” the court said.
The justice of M. Nagaprasann made these observations and rejected the petition given by PVT Phonepe. Ltd.
Summons
The company challenged the summons issued by the Police Station of the Awards, the rural district of Bengalur, and asked the company to provide some information about transactions on complaints filed by a person claiming to have lost money in 2022 while using several digital payments to transfer different particles to online cricket betting applications.
Phonepe claimed that digital payments intermediaries had immunity before publishing information to anyone, including the police, with the exception of courts, under the Payment and Settlement Act (PSS) of the 2007 Act of 2007.
Statutory authority
“SECTION 22 OF THE PSS 2007 Act, No Doubt, Permits and Payment Gateway to Keep the Documents Involved in Payment System Confidential. Exceptions are Carved Out in the Statute Itself. The Provision Itself Carves Out Orders Passed by the Court of Competent Jurisdiction Or and the statutory of Authority in Exercise of Power Conferred Under the Statute, ”The Court Noted.
Therefore, the Court stated that the investigative official was a legal authority that acted in terms of powers granted under the Code of Criminal Procedure in the conduct of the investigation, and therefore it cannot be accepted that details cannot be revealed. Even the provisions of the BBE Act of 1891 were provided by the provisions on the publication of information, the court stressed.
Published – May 13, 2025 20:57 is
