Fact-checking website AltNews on Tuesday said Razorpay, the payment gateway through which it receives donations, had handed over the portal’s donor data to police.

The development has the potential to intimidate donors who have been helping several news portals to stay afloat and hold the government accountable. AltNews and its co-founders have been under attack for their relentless debunking of fake news and false claims peddled by Right-wing groups.

AltNews said Razorpay had deactivated its account for a few hours on Monday, “upon receiving a request from police authorities”, and it was restored later after getting “some clarity”.

“It has not been specified by them as to what this ‘clarity’ is,” AltNews said in a statement, adding that if Razorpay had indeed found that “we had violated their terms of services, they would not have reenabled our account”.

It added: “Since we are committed to transparency to our readers and donors, we also wish to inform all of you that Razorpay handed over AltNews donor data to the police. This was done without informing us, or without even a preliminary investigation of any violation on the part of AltNews.”

Razorpay said in a statement that it had received “a written order from the legal authorities… and we are mandated to comply with the same… under the provisions of Indian law”.

After AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair was arrested initially for tweeting a film clip that allegedly hurt religious sentiments, Delhi police had added charges linked to foreign contributions, claiming that he had received donations totalling Rs 2 lakh from abroad.

On Monday, AltNews had denied receiving funds “from foreign sources from whom we cannot receive donations”.

On the payment gateway issue, AltNews said on Tuesday: “At this point, we wish to reiterate that only Indian bank accounts can make donations to AltNews, and foreign credit cards were never enabled in the Razorpay backend. Therefore, allegations of AltNews having received funds from foreign sources from whom we cannot receive donations are false,” the statement said.

The website said AltNews was looking for alternatives but it would continue with Razorpay as the donation platform for the time being. “Our donation form asks for information such as email address, phone number, PAN card number, address. We still need to collect this information from our donors, as this is based on various government regulations. If you value the work we do, then please do continue supporting us,” it said.

AltNews on Monday had clarified that all the donations it collects go to the organisation’s bank account and not to any individual’s account.

Razorpay’s response

Razorpay tweeted the following statement on Tuesday evening: “This is to clarify some of the reports regarding AltNews in light of recent events. Razorpay is a trusted organisation that is relentlessly working towards building a fintech platform for small businesses.

“While we strive to ensure transactions on the platform are safe, but at the same time, being a leading financial organisation, we are fully abiding and compliant with all necessary laws and regulations of India. We had received a written order from the legal authorities under Section 91 CRPC and we are mandated to comply with the same as per the regulation under the provisions of Indian law.

“We will continue to hold the highest standard of data security, defend our customers at all times and also continue to abide by the laws and regulations of India.”