Paytm Payments Bank board is ‘independent and capable’, says CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma Sharma amid RBI concerns

The CEO of One97 Communications Ltd (OCL), the parent company of Paytm Payments Bank, said on April 22 that the bank's board is independent and strong to deal with regulatory issues. “I or anyone from OCL have nothing to do personally with the payments bank,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma during a webinar, as quoted by Reuters.

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Vijay Shekhar Sharma assured the stakeholders after being faced with regulatory scrutiny. He said, “There is an independent board taking care of everything, and we have full faith in their capability.” 

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These comments come after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop adding new customers to its accounts or digital wallets from March 2024 on the grounds of ‘material supervisory concerns’ and 'continuing failure by the bank to adhere to RBI's regulatory guidelines.'

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Paytm Payments Bank is an arm of One97 Communications, popularly known as Paytm, because of its app for digital payments. One97 holds 49 percent in the payments bank, and the remaining by Sharma.

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In February, as per the RBI directive, Sharma had to step down from the post of non-executive chairman and board member of Paytm Payments Bank.

Sharma announced on Monday that the migration of merchant customers from Paytm to the new Payment System Provider (PSP) bank handles has been completed.

This comes after the fintech company received approval from the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to commence user migration last week.

(With Inputs from Reuters)