Paytm Payments Bank Hopeful About RBI Lifting Customer Onboarding Restrictions By March 2024

NHAI Asks Paytm Users To Switch To Another Bank FASTag By March 15

SUMMARY

Paytm COO and president Bhavesh Gupta said there is no definite timeline currently for Paytm Payments Bank being allowed to resume onboarding customers

In March 2022, the Reserve Bank of India barred Paytm Payments Bank from onboarding new customers, citing “certain material supervisory concerns observed in the bank”

Earlier, Paytm said that it has already implemented various recommendations for PPBL sought by the RBI as part of the IT review undertaken in the previous fiscal year

Paytm Payments Bank, a subsidiary of Paytm, is hopeful about the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifting the restrictions imposed on it for onboarding new customers by March 2024, said Bhavesh Gupta, the president and COO of the fintech giant.

Speaking at Paytm’s AGM, Gupta said there is no definite timeline for Paytm Payments Bank being allowed to resume onboarding customers, BQPrime reported. However, the company is hopeful that it would be allowed to onboard new customers by March next year, he added.

In March 2022, the RBI barred Paytm Payments from onboarding new customers citing “certain material supervisory concerns observed in the bank”.

At the beginning of this year, Paytm Payments Bank reportedly received the final nod from the RBI to operate as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU).

As an entity under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), Paytm Payments Bank got approval to conduct bill payment and aggregation business as a BBPOU.

A BBPOU is allowed to facilitate bill payment services for various utilities like electricity, phone, gas, and water, as well as for loans, FASTag recharge, credit card bills, education fees, and municipal taxes.

Set up in 2017, Paytm Payments Bank is the top payments bank in India, a leading mobile banking platform and an ewallet services provider.

It emerged as one of the top mobile banking service providers in India and ranked sixth globally in 2022 in terms of ewallet users.

Earlier in May, Paytm Payments Bank rolled out a slew of new features for Paytm UPI, including UPI Lite on iOS, RuPay Credit Card on UPI, Split Bill and alternate UPI ID with the Paytm app to hide mobile numbers, among others.

Paytm reported a 44.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated net loss at INR 358.4 Cr in the June quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The company had reported a loss of INR 645.4 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

At that time, the fintech major said that it had implemented various recommendations for Paytm Payments Bank sought by the RBI as part of the IT review undertaken in the previous fiscal year. The matter was still under consideration by the RBI, it added.