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What is the story about?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recognised Sahamati as the Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for India’s Account Aggregator (AA) ecosystem, marking the creation of a formal industry-led governance layer for the consent-based financial data-sharing framework.
Sahamati, which acts as an industry alliance and coordination body for the AA ecosystem, will now function as a self-regulatory institution responsible for developing operational and technical standards, supporting interoperability, and facilitating dispute resolution among participants.
The Account Aggregator framework is part of India’s Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), enabling individuals and businesses to share financial data with their consent across regulated entities. The system is being implemented across banking, insurance, securities, and pension sectors, with oversight and participation from regulators including the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA.
According to ecosystem data, the AA network currently includes over 1,100 regulated financial entities, including Financial Information Providers (FIPs) and Financial Information Users (FIUs), along with multiple operational Account Aggregators. It has facilitated hundreds of millions of consent-based data requests and linked accounts, supporting use cases in lending, insurance, wealth management and personal finance.
Under the SRO framework, Sahamati will also be expected to coordinate ecosystem-wide standards and strengthen compliance practices across participants as the AA system scales further.
RBI has stated that the SRO mechanism is intended to support responsible innovation, improve transparency, and strengthen trust in the consent-based data-sharing infrastructure.
R Gandhi, Chairman of Sahamati and former Deputy Governor of the RBI, said the recognition would help reinforce institutional mechanisms for maintaining standards and accountability as financial data sharing expands.
B G Mahesh, Chief Executive Officer of Sahamati, said the move reflects the need for structured governance as digital financial systems become more interconnected and scale across sectors.
The development comes as the Account Aggregator framework continues to expand its adoption across financial services, with increasing integration into digital lending and financial management use cases.
Sahamati, which acts as an industry alliance and coordination body for the AA ecosystem, will now function as a self-regulatory institution responsible for developing operational and technical standards, supporting interoperability, and facilitating dispute resolution among participants.
The Account Aggregator framework is part of India’s Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), enabling individuals and businesses to share financial data with their consent across regulated entities. The system is being implemented across banking, insurance, securities, and pension sectors, with oversight and participation from regulators including the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA.
According to ecosystem data, the AA network currently includes over 1,100 regulated financial entities, including Financial Information Providers (FIPs) and Financial Information Users (FIUs), along with multiple operational Account Aggregators. It has facilitated hundreds of millions of consent-based data requests and linked accounts, supporting use cases in lending, insurance, wealth management and personal finance.
Under the SRO framework, Sahamati will also be expected to coordinate ecosystem-wide standards and strengthen compliance practices across participants as the AA system scales further.
RBI has stated that the SRO mechanism is intended to support responsible innovation, improve transparency, and strengthen trust in the consent-based data-sharing infrastructure.
R Gandhi, Chairman of Sahamati and former Deputy Governor of the RBI, said the recognition would help reinforce institutional mechanisms for maintaining standards and accountability as financial data sharing expands.
B G Mahesh, Chief Executive Officer of Sahamati, said the move reflects the need for structured governance as digital financial systems become more interconnected and scale across sectors.
The development comes as the Account Aggregator framework continues to expand its adoption across financial services, with increasing integration into digital lending and financial management use cases.
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