Paytm Discontinues Inter-Company Agreements With PPBL To Reduce Dependencies

Fintech major Paytm on Friday (March 1) said that it has mutually agreed to discontinue various inter-company agreements with its payments bank unit Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL).

“One 97 Communications Ltd (Paytm) would like to inform that the company and its associate
entity, Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), have introduced additional measures to strengthen their approach towards independent operations of PPBL,” it said in an exchange filing.

As part of this process to reduce dependencies, Paytm and PPBL have mutually agreed to
discontinue various inter-company agreements with Paytm and its group entities.

Further, the shareholders of PPBL have agreed to simplify the Shareholders Agreement (SHA) to support PPBL’s governance, independent of its shareholders. The Board of OCL approved the termination of agreements and amendment of SHA on March 1, 2024.

The filing also noted that Paytm had announced earlier that it would sign up new partnerships with other banks and take measures to provide seamless services for its customers and merchants.

“One 97 Communications Limited and its services that include the Paytm app, Paytm QR, Paytm soundbox and Paytm Card machines will continue to work uninterrupted,” Paytm said.

Earlier this week, Paytm founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma stepped down from the board of Paytm Payments Bank as the part-time non-executive chairman and board member of the payments bank. It also said that a newly-reconstituted board will now helm the affairs at the company.

The new appointments include former Central Bank of India chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officers Debendranath Sarangi and Rajni Sekhri Sibal, and Bank of Baroda’s ex-executive director Ashok Kumar Garg.

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) implemented a series of restrictions on a payments bank, prohibiting it from accepting deposits, engaging in credit transactions, or facilitating top-ups in customer accounts due to persistent non-compliance and significant supervisory concerns.

Initially, the central bank also restricted the bank from providing additional banking services such as UPI facilities and fund transfers after February 29. However, some of these restrictions were later extended to March 15.

Paytm shares were trading at INR 418.40 apiece at 9:25 am on Friday.

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