The Reserve Bank of India has constituted a Working Group in the Department of Information Technology to study the recommendations on standards for SMART Card based Payment Systems made by the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai. The recommendations have been made in document "SMART Card based Payment System Standards" version 3.0, as part of the "Project SMART Rupees System (SMARS)".

The Project ‘SMART Rupees System (SMARS)’ is a pilot project on SMART Card technology in India. The project has been undertaken to examine the viability and use of SMART Cards as retail payment instruments within the country. The project undertaken at the instance of the Reserve Bank of India, is a collaborative venture in which the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology, Hyderabad, hardware and software vendors, and two commercial banks (State Bank of India and Canara Bank) are partners. The pilot phase of the project commenced on December 3, 1998.

The composition of the Working Group is :

1.	Dr. A.Vasudevan	Chairman
	Executive Director
	Reserve Bank of India
2.	Shri M.N.Dandekar	Member
	Chief Executive and Secretary
	Indian Banks’ Association
	Mumbai
3.	Dr.V.P.Gulati	Member
	Director
	Institute for Development and Research
	In Banking Technology
	Hyderabad
4.	Prof.D.B.Phatak	Member
	Department of Computer Sciences and Engineering
	Indian Institute of Technology
	Powai
5.	Shri K.Seshashayi	Member
	Chief General Manager
	Systems and Technology
	State Bank of India
	Mumbai
6.	Shri S.Venkatachalam	Member
	Vice President, Information Technology
	Citibank N.A.
	Mumbai
7.	Shri A.K.S.Rao	Member
	General Manager
	Computer Policy and Planning Department
	Canara Bank
	Bangalore
8.	Shri S.R.Mittal	Member-Secretary
	Chief General Manager-in-Charge
	Department of Information Technology
	Reserve Bank of India
	Mumbai

The terms of reference of the Working Group are to :

1. study the various recommendations for "SMART Card based Payment System Standards" version 3.0 made by Project SMART Rupees System (SMARS);
2. corroborate these standards with the international standards (ISO) and / or those prevalent in Europe; and
3. examine the relevance of the remaining recommendations to the circumstances arising from the developments in the Payment and Settlement systems in the country.

The Working Group will submit its Report by November 30, 1999.

Alpana Killawala
General Manager

Press Release : 1999-2000/346