Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has secured regulatory approval for launching its digital payment platform — WhatApp Pay — in a phased manner, close to two years after the US-based company’s pilot run. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) granted permission to the California-headquartered company on Thursday to operate WhatsApp Pay, which will cater to 10 million users in India during the first phase, a person in the know said.

The NPCI approval follows the Reserve Bank of India’s go-ahead. WhatsApp has assured the RBI and NPCI that it ...