Cabinet approves amendment to National Payment System Act (2014) |24 February 2023

VP Afif

In its scheduled meeting on Wednesday this week, the cabinet of ministers approved amendments to the National Payment System Act (NPSA).

Enacted in 2014, the NSPA aims to have a modern regulatory framework governing the operations of payment, clearing and settlement systems as well as retail payment instruments and services in the economy.

The Central Bank of Seychelles has under this act, the power to regulate and oversee the country’s national payment system for the purpose of ensuring its safe, secure, efficient and effective operation. The aim of the amendments approved by the cabinet on Wednesday is to address deficiencies in the law during implementation and to align the legislation with international standards and best practices.

When making transactions on a platform, problems can occur and these amendments made to the NPSA look at how these actions can be taken care of and what legal actions the regulators can take. The system ensures that everything works well and everyone involved is protected and that is the NPSA of 2014.

But with evolution and globalisation, Vice-President Ahmed Afif said it is important to revise the act and bring it up to date. “It is an effort for us to modernise our country because the payment system and technology develops extremely fast and so it is important for our laws to remain up to date,” he said.

With new innovative way of payment being introduced the government and its cabinet is sure that those involved are being looked after and that they are protected.

“We need to ensure that the regulator has control over every clearing that goes under their jurisdiction , and to have control there has to be a law that is modern which considers all the new payment system,” explained Mr Afif.

Some amendments being made are to make sure the Central Bank of Seychelles keeps them up to date with all the payment systems , which would allow them to establish a system that would make clearing with other banks faster. This is called a ‘Netting system’, which would also reflect upon the financial laws that had been amended recently.

“We need to stay modernised, the whole world is evolving and we need to make sure we are evolving with it,” said the vice-president.

The amendments to the law are also in line with the government’s plan to have a modern electronic payment system that will allow for a quick and efficient payment system in a secure environment, by improving the ease of doing business and eliminate potential for fraudulent activities.

In discussion of the same topic, the cabinet repeated the need for retail shops to abide by the law and make use of electronic cash registers, which will issue receipts for transactions made, making it more official and reliable.

Members of the public are encouraged to report to either the Fair Trading Commission or the Seychelles Licensing Authority, situations where retail shops are using calculators instead of a cash register.

VP Afif said that all retailers should have and use an electronic cash register, as it is the more efficient method of purchase transactions.

Diane Larame

Photos by Joena Meme