Online payment service provider PayPal said that it has suspended certain types of payment transaction in India. When I logged in to my paypal account I found that there is no option to send personal payments.

In a blog posted on its website, PayPal spokesperson Anuj Nayar wrote “personal payments to and from India and transfers to local banks in India have been suspended while we work with our business partners and other stakeholders to address questions they have about the service”.

Without giving any further details for the unusual suspension, he added that the company is working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

During this time, customers can still make commercial payments to India but merchants cannot withdraw funds in rupees to local Indian banks, he said.

And here is what Paypal has to say:

Your payment of xxx has been sent back to the sender of the payment. We reversed this payment because we have stopped allowing personal payments to be sent to or from India.

If this payment was a personal payment such as a gift, then we have requested that the sender find another payment method until we restore personal payments to and from India.

The move is reportedly related to the Indian government’s crackdown in November 2009 on international banking transactions, when it instituted new reporting and verification requirements on all banks and financial institutions to prevent international money laundering.

There are plenty of players now a days to offer cheap calling cards and cheap calls to India and worldwide. I found one website Localphone which I think is the cheapest and most reliable among other players. The call rates to India are as low as $0.018 which is equivalent to 90 paisa at Rs 50/dollar. Call charges to US, UK and Singapore are cheaper than this. There are many ways you can use Localphone to make calls such as PC softphone and Wi-fi mobile. You can call from any part of the world to India and the rates are same.

How to make calls:

Register an account at localphone and recharge your account. Select the voip tab and upgrade to voip.  You will get SIP settings from this page. You can use these settings to configure your systems such as PC softphone  or Wi-fi mobile. How to configure the devices is explained in detail in the website. To make a call just dial the number in international format. Eg  0091+ STD code+ xxxxx to India landlines and 0091xxxxx format to mobiles.

One thing I liked about Localphone is that when you save an International number to your  Localphone account LocalPhone gives you  unique local phone numbers that directly connects to your international numbers. So basically you just dial your local phone number and it will ring your international number. For e.g. your friend lives in India and you are living in Bahrain. You add your friend’s number starting with 91xxxxxxxx and Localphone will give you a local Bahrain number e.g. +973-xxxxx. So when you want to call your friend in India, you just dial +973-xxxxx number.

You can make free mobile to mobile calls if both of you are using wifi mobiles and in a wifi area. You need to configure your SIP settings in your mobile. Another good thing about Localphone is that if you are using a VoIP phone, you can configure your ATA device to make international calls directly from your phone and not worry about any calling access number.

Recharging Your Account:

You can pay via credit card and paypal. If you don’t have credit card you can use Entropay card. Please note that you CAN’T use netsafe card as they try to charge the amount as two different transactions and netsafe card can be used only once.

I have tried Localphone and the voice clarity is excellent. Start making cheap international calls with Localphone.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated that from 1st Aug 2009 all online credit card transactions require an extra level of verification. Your credit card issuing banks are therefore, implementing a “Verified by VISA” or “MasterCard SecureCode” password.

You will need this password to continue transacting online from 1st Aug 2009.

What is the “Verified by VISA”/”MasterCard SecureCode”?

This is the password that your credit card issuing Bank provides. For example – ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank, HSBC Bank, Axis Bank, SBI etc. This password is the additional layer of security for all your online transactions. Register for your “Verified by VISA” or “MasterCard SecureCode” password with your credit card issuing bank before 1st Aug 2009.

How it works?

Benefits of “Verified by VISA”/”MasterCard SecureCode”

Even if you lose / misplace your credit card it cannot be misused online as the password is not present on the card.