It’s been over a month since the new RBI guidelines for recurring card payments came into force, and the dust around us has still not settled. Small businesses, non-profits, and international services are still struggling to get a hold of the situation.
While some big corporations have figured their way out — either by shifting to other payment methods like UPI Autopay, resorting to prepaid top-ups, or even offering their services for free until the issue is sorted out — media houses (already struggling to find a sustainable revenue model in the information age) that were finally getting a hang of the subscription model are back to square one.
Countless young startups that rely on the subscription model now face existential issues, given the sudden drop in their hard-won subscribers.
If you have a business, was it also affected by these new guidelines? Are you using any services that were affected? Or maybe, any services that weren’t affected by these new guidelines? Let us know in the comments!
The Internet Freedom Foundation has also been critically affected by this, and is facing a steep drop of more than 70% recurring memberships. To make up for this, we launched a fundraiser in October with a goal of 30 lakh INR — enough to cover our work for the next 6 months until the situation becomes clearer.
Thanks to the overwhelming support of our supporters, we’ve reached 70% of our target, and the fundraiser currently stands at 21,32,122 INR.
We are almost there, and we need your help!
Help us sustain the fight for our digital liberties.