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Congress weighed in on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposing curbs on Paytm Payment Bank, and called the occurrence a failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said that the BJP-led NDA government in the Centre failed to keep a check on a ‘company with Chinese links, which has faced penalties before’.
Jairam Ramesh took to microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to talk about the Paytm Payment Bank debacle. “Why has a firm with Chinese links — at one point with 31 per cent Chinese ownership and Chinese investment of more than ₹7000 crore—which has previously been penalised by the RBI for noncompliance in 2022, not been kept under stricter monitoring?”Jairam Ramesh wrote.
Jairam Ramesh added, “Does this have anything to do with Paytm’s vocal support on 9th November 2016 of the disastrous demonetisation decision?”
China link to Paytm
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the largest shareholder of One97 Communications Ltd., the owner and operator of fintech giant Paytm, has 19.42 per cent holding, while Antfin, an affiliate of China’s Ant Group Co, has 13.5 per cent.
One97 Communications, which owns Paytm brand, holds a 49 per cent stake in Paytm Payments Bank Limited but classifies it as an associate of the company and not as a subsidiary.
RBI’s order against Paytm Payments Bank
In a major action against Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL), the Reserve Bank on Wednesday directed the lender to stop accepting deposits or top-ups in any customer accounts, wallets, FASTTags and other instruments after 29 February.
Further, withdrawal or utilisation of balances by its customers from their accounts, including savings bank accounts, current accounts, prepaid instruments, FASTags, and National Common Mobility Cards are to be permitted without any restrictions, up to their available balance.
Settlement of all pipeline transactions and nodal accounts (in respect of all transactions initiated on or before February 29, 2024) should be completed by March 15, 2024 and no further transactions would be permitted thereafter, RBI ordered.
Why action on Paytm Payments Bank?
The RBI directive follows persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns, the central bank said in a statement.
On March 11, 2022, the RBI had barred PPBL from onboarding new customers with immediate effect.
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Published: 01 Feb 2024, 09:36 AM IST
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