Paytm Payments Bank Restructures Board; Manju Agarwal, Shinjini Kumar Quit

Amid the ongoing crisis at Paytm Payments Bank following the Reserve Bank of India’s restrictions, the bank has restructured its board, sources told Inc42.

As part of this restructuring, independent directors Manju Agarwal and Shinjini Kumar have quit the board of the troubled payments bank, the sources added.

Paytm Payments Bank was not immediately available to comment on the development.

Agarwal joined Paytm after a 34-year stint with the State Bank of India. She was also associated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Jio Payments Bank in the past. 

Currently, she serves as an independent director on the board of multiple companies, including Polycab, Gulf Oil Lubricants, and Hinduja Leyland Finance. 

On the other hand, Kumar also served as the chief executive of Paytm Payments Bank, a position she held for over a year till June 2017. She has over 30 years of experience in the Indian financial services sector. 

Besides working with companies like Citi Bank, PwC, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, she also worked with the Reserve Bank of India for nearly 17 years. She is also the cofounder of Five Salts Private Ltd, which is building a platform to facilitate more women to buy financial products.

It is pertinent to note that Paytm Paytm Payments Bank plunged into a crisis after the RBI on January 31 prohibited it from taking deposits, credit, or processing top-up transactions in its customer accounts for ‘persistent non-compliances’. It also barred it from processing other banking services like UPI facilities and fund transfers after February 29, 2024.

Besides the payments bank, this has also raised concerns about the impact of the ruling on Paytm. A day after the RBI announced its restrictions, the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company said it expects a hit of about INR 300-500 Cr on its annual EBITDA due to the central bank’s action.

Earlier today, RBI deputy governor Swaminathan Janakiraman clarified that the central bank’s action is against Paytm Payments Bank and not the Paytm app itself. 

He also said, without naming Paytm Payments Bank, that the central bank gives enough time to regulated entities to take corrective actions to rectify the deficiencies. On the question of other banks partnering Paytm Payments Bank, he said it is a business decision which the banks will have to take.