RBI/2012-13/344

DPSS.CO.AD.No.984/02.27.005/2012-13

December 20, 2012

The President/Managing Director / CEO

All Payment System Operators Authorised under the PSS Act, 2007

Madam/Dear Sir,

As you may be aware the Government has envisaged providing “Broadband on Demand” by 2015 in the recently unveiled National Telecom Policy (NTP) – 2012 emphasizing the role of Internet as catalyst for socio-economic development of a country and serving as an effective medium of various citizen centric services in today’s information economy. Since the current version of Internet Protocol (IPv4) has almost run out of addresses, the broadband revolution will ride on next generation Internet Protocol (IPv6). The NTP-2012 recognizes the futuristic role of IPv6 and aims to achieve substantial transition to IPv6 in the country.

2. Department of Telecommunication under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India has undertaken the initiative of migration from IPv4 to IPv6. Since migration to IPv6 is an eventuality that has to be accepted and manage proactively, Government wants it to be done in a planned manner. They have expressed that the migration of all payment gateways, banks, financial institutions, insurance companies etc. including their web sites should be completed at the earliest.

3. We accordingly advise you to initiate necessary action by constituting a special team to complete the migration at the earliest and keep us informed of the progress made by March 30, 2013.

4. In case any clarification / assistance needed on IPv6 implementation, kindly contact Shri R M Agarwal, DDG (NT), DoT (Mobile number 9868133440) who is heading the team which is providing relevant support to all stakeholders.

Please acknowledge receipt of this circular.

Yours faithfully,

(G Srinivas)

General Manager-in-Charge

Migration to IPv6 required for payment system operators; implement dedicated teams, commence technical migration and report progress. The Reserve Bank directs all payment system operators authorised under the PSS Act to transition their networks, web sites and payment gateways from IPv4 to IPv6, to constitute a dedicated implementation team to manage the migration, coordinate with stakeholders and ensure service continuity, and to report progress by the prescribed deadline; technical assistance is available from a designated Department of Telecommunications contact.