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Paytm falls again as regulator considers revoking bank permits

New Delhi: Paytm’s stock fell for the third consecutive day as India’s… Edge considers abolishing License Of Paytm Payments Bank Limited has increased the troubles of the once famous fintech startup.
banking of india regulator is considering removing permit According to Bloomberg News, money-laundering concerns have risen after multiple lapses were found in Paytm Payments Bank, including several transactions beyond regulatory limits. informed of Last week. The regulator has already ordered the bank to halt most of its business, potentially hurting the broader digital-payments pioneer’s prospects.
Paytm said the company and its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma are not under investigation by the country’s anti-money laundering agency, though the statements did little to ease investors’ concerns. Paytm shares fell 10% on Monday, its biggest fall ever, taking its decline in the last three trading days to more than 40%.
“In the past, some merchants/users on our platform have been subject to questioning and on those occasions, we have always cooperated with the authorities,” Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications Ltd said in a disclosure to stock exchanges late on Sunday night. ” The company has also cooperated with state agencies in such investigations.
The unprofitable company’s market value has fallen to about $3.4 billion – down nearly 80% from its stock market debut at the end of 2021. Over the weekend the Mumbai Stock Exchange changed the daily move limit on Paytm shares to 10% after they fell by 20% – the previous limit – every Thursday and Friday.
India’s regulator stepping up its crackdown on Paytm’s relatively small banking arm is a blow to the broader firm’s reputation and means it needs to quickly find new partners to minimize the impact on its core digital-payments business. .
Sharma holds a 51% stake in the payments bank, which can take deposits of up to 200,000 rupees ($2,412) but is not allowed to lend. One97 Communications holds the remaining stake.
reserve Bank of India On January 31, Paytm Payments Bank was ordered to shut down its popular mobile wallet business and barred from taking deposits or allowing top-ups after February 29. The banking regulator is considering revoking the bank’s license as early as March.
Options the company is now considering include the sale of the wallet business, The Hindu Business Line reported citing people it did not name. Jio Financial Services Ltd. is leading among buyers, the newspaper said, helping push shares of the Mukesh Ambani-controlled fintech firm up 17%.
Paytm Payments Bank declined to comment on the report, saying, “We fully comply with the regulator’s instructions, and the team’s endeavor is to ensure a seamless customer experience with the products offered by PPBL.” A representative of Reliance Industries Ltd., from which Jio Financial was spun off, did not immediately comment.
SoftBank Group Corp-backed Paytm has been in the regulator’s crosshairs for some time now, with multiple warnings over the past two years about suspicious transactions between its banking arm and its popular payments app.
In response to the regulator’s latest salvo, Paytm last week said it would expand its relationships with third-party banks to expand its business and work towards profitability. It also added what it called “market rumours”, adding that Sharma “has not taken any margin loan, or otherwise pledged any shares directly or indirectly owned by him “



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