Paytm Acquires Bitsila To Bolster ONDC Presence

At a time when Paytm is reeling under crisis after regulatory action by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the fintech major has acquired Bitsila to bolster its presence in the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) space, as per Inc42 sources. 

Paytm Ecommerce Private Limited, which has now been renamed to PAI Platform Private Limited, has bought Innobits Solutions Private Limited, the parent entity of ONDC seller firm Bitsila. Members’ of Paytm Ecommerce board had passed the resolution to change the name to Pai Platforms on January 15, 2024, regulatory filings show. 

PAI, a leading buyer platform on the ONDC Network, is eyeing to strengthen its commerce play with its acquisition of Bitsila. 

With this buyout, PAI aims to grow seller availability on the ONDC network by tapping millions of sellers on the platform.

However, Paytm denied the acquisition of Bitsila.

Bitsila, which was launched in 2020, has a full-stack omnichannel and hyperlocal commerce capable of managing over 600 Mn SKUs across 10,000 stores in more than 30 cities. Its platform caters to various sectors such as grocery, fashion, beauty and personal care products, and home decor among others. 

It may be noted that the publicly listed One97 Communications Limited (OCL) has no direct or indirect shareholding in PAI Platforms Private Limited which is now renamed as PAI Platforms. PAI is an independent private company and is not part of the OCL group.

The fresh development comes close on the heels of RBI directive on January 31, which prohibited Paytm Payments Bank from engaging in deposit, credit, or top-up transactions in its customer accounts, alongside the cessation of other banking services like UPI facilities and fund transfers after February 29, 2024. 

Following this, concerns have emerged regarding the ramifications of this regulatory action on Paytm’s operation.

This resulted in Paytm’s stock hitting the lower circuits. On the day of filing this story (February 9), the fintech major’s stock tanked by 8.67% to INR 408.3 on BSE. 

The central bank’s directive has sparked panic among Paytm’s ordinary users and merchants, leading them to migrate to rivals or alternative platforms in large numbers.

Next week, RBI is likely to meet the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) among others, to finalise modalities for migrating merchants and consumers from the platform.

MoneyControl was the first to report about Paytm’s plans to acquire Bitsila.

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