Apple tells developers in India to promote Apple ID payments ahead of new government regulations

Apple on Wednesday informed developers in India of an upcoming regulatory change that could impact recurring transactions like auto-renewable subscriptions, suggesting app makers push payments through Apple ID to avoid complications.

A directive from the Reserve Bank of India will require banks, financial institutions and "gateways" to obtain user approval before completing credit card and debit card transactions for auto-renewable subscriptions, Apple said in a post to its developer website. The change goes into effect in October and will impact certain App Store purchases.

According to the mandate, user approval must be obtained through transaction notifications, e-mandates, and Additional Factors of Authentication (AFA). Transactions that do not meet requirements laid out by the directive will be declined by banks or card issuers.

Apple is attempting to ease the transition period for developers by suggesting possible solutions to prevent or resolve declined transactions. For example, developers offering auto-renewable or recurring subscriptions can promote payments with Apple ID. Apple says that users who pay with an Apple ID balance are not currently subject to India's new regulatory requirements, meaning their transactions will be processed without issue.

The Apple ID payments system in India is similar to Apple Pay in that users can add funds with credit and debit cards, Net Banking, RuPay and UPI. Apple Pay is not yet available in the country

Apple also recommends that developers institute a billing grace period by activating the feature in App Store Connect. This will give subscribers with declined transactions time to update payment information while retaining access to app content, Apple says.

The tech giant notes that developers can communicate with customers and discuss payment methods through in-app messaging.