Paytm Shares Hit 5% Upper Circuit After NPCI Nod For TPAP Licence

Shares of One 97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of Paytm, jumped 5% to hit its upper circuit limit of INR 370.90 during Friday’s (March 15) trading session.

On Friday, Paytm shares opened at INR 370.90, as compared to the previous close at INR 353.25. The company’s shares were trading at INR 370.90 at 10:50 am on Friday.

This comes a day after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) granted approval to One97 Communications Limited to participate in UPI services as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP).

With the licence, the fintech major can operate UPI services under a multi-bank model. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Yes Bank will act as payment system provider (PSP) banks to One 97 Communications.

“YES Bank shall also be acting as merchant acquiring bank for existing and new UPI merchants for OCL. “@Paytm” handle shall be redirected to YES Bank. This will enable existing users and merchants to continue to do UPI transactions and AutoPay mandates in a seamless and uninterrupted manner,” the NPCI said in a statement.

The payments body said it has advised One97 Communications to complete migration of all existing handles and mandates, wherever required, to new PSP banks at the earliest.

It is pertinent to note that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deadline for Paytm Payments Bank Ltd ends on Friday (March 15).

Paytm relied on PPBL to facilitate transactions on its app. With the RBI barring it from conducting any further bank-related operations post March 15, the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led startup decided to partner with other PSP banks.

A little over two weeks after the regulatory action on PPBL, Paytm had announced that it shifted its nodal account to Axis Bank.

Subsequently, the fintech giant also signed a deal to move its merchant accounts to Yes Bank.

The NPCI’s license approval brings much-needed relief to Paytm, which has seen its shares plummet by almost 60% following the RBI’s restrictions on PPBL.

In addition, last month, six mutual funds completely sold off their investments in Paytm’s parent company, while another six significantly reduced their holdings. In total, over 9.1 million shares, valued at INR 380 crore, were divested by the end of February.