HC dismisses PhonePe’s challenge of a police notice.

The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition filed by PhonePe Private Limited, a digital payment gateway, which challenged a notice issued by the Bengaluru cyber police seeking information. Justice M. Nagaprasanna noted, "Confidentiality must coexist with accountability," while rejecting the petition.

The company contested a summons/notice issued on December 7, 2022, under Section 91 of the CrPC. This notice sought specific information based on a complaint from Prashanth, a resident of Anekal, who reported losing Rs 6,150 through cricket betting applications.

In its defense, PhonePe argued that the summons, which directed the company to provide confidential transaction details and full account credentials of registered PhonePe users and merchants to freeze a particular user's transactions, was unreasonable without a complete investigation. The company also stated that neither PhonePe Private Limited nor its employees were accused of any crime and that the company was merely acting as a system provider in the UPI payment ecosystem.​

Read more