WhatsApp Pay is waiting for green signal from Indian Govt: Mark Zuckerberg

Amidst the controversy of fake news circulation via WhatsApp platform, the messenger app's parent entity Facebook hasn't been given up yet. The global social media giant led by Mark Zuckerberg has said that it is seeking the 'green light' from the Indian government to officially launch its UPI payments service in the country.

Zuckerberg whose company is currently going through the biggest loss in a day in the history of trading has told investors that the feedback from initial users of WhatsApp Pay had been extremely strong.

Zuckerberg was addressing his investors during a call after the company’s second-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

He had also said that the company had already begun focusing on building similar services in other markets. Payment is one of the most important segments for WhatsApp, which wants to monetise it through service rather than advertising.

The statement comes from Zuckerberg just after the Indian government meeting with the top official of WhatsApp who told the instant messaging platform to prioritise curbing fake news before launching payments service.

Earlier, Whatsapp had claimed that it is planning to bring a fake news verification model Verificado in India. In its effort to prevent misuse of the platform ahead of general election in India in 2019, the Facebook-owned company will follow the model that was used in Mexico Presidential election.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology or MEITY had asked the messaging platform about how it is going to store users data and details about the payments system and eventually put its nationwide launch on hold.

The development was reported by Business Standard.