Paytm, which was among the first to launch the payments bank service in India, hasn’t had a good run so far. Soon after launching the service, the company was banned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from onboarding new customers.
However, after a hiatus of around five months, the company says that it has now received permission from the RBI to start KYC formalities for its wallet and bank accounts from December 31, 2018.
The company was barred to onboard new customers following the violation of guidelines set by the regulator. for all payments banks operating in India. The company had failed to adhere ₹100 crore net worth limit, violated KYC rule and did not follow the norms of not holding more than ₹1 lakh in each account.
Further, it was said that the banking watchdog was not happy with the ownership structure between Paytm and its payments bank arm. All payments banks are expected to maintain a certain distance – independent operational structures – from the promoter entities.
Additionally, Renu Satti, who was hired to lead the Paytm Payments Bank as the CEO, stepped down from the role and was appointed as the head of Paytm’s retail business. Later, the company appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as managing director and CEO of Paytm Payments Bank. He is responsible for the enhancement of payment infrastructure, deployment of PoS terminals, and overall public policy.
Currently, the company claims to have over 42 million bank account and is now aiming to achieve 100 million bank accounts by the end of 2019. In FY18, the company’s revenue reached ₹729.1 crore while it incurred ₹20.7 crore loss in the same period.
