While the Paytm UPI app – which is unaffected by the RBI action – has around 9 crore users, there are only 1.5 crore unique users. This is because 7.5 crore users have installed other UPI apps, data accessed by TOI shows.
The task appears to be less complex than was anticipated when the restrictions were announced on January 31 as only 10% or 90 lakh of the 9 crore Paytm UPI app users have underlying accounts with the bank. As a result, 8.1 crore users will not face any disruption as their UPI is linked to accounts of other banks. The regulator is likely to issue a set of FAQs for Paytm Payments Bank this week. When it comes to merchants, almost 70% of Paytm services do not have bank accounts with the payments bank.
In any case, out of over 3.1 crore savings bank accounts of Paytm Payment Bank, around 1.4 crore or 45% are either inactive or frozen. The bank has about 10 lakh current accounts. In fact, the large number of inactive or frozen accounts has been one of the major areas of concern for the regulator.
Similarly, when it comes to pre-paid payment instrument (PPI) wallets, the number of such wallets is around 35 crore, but 30 crore – which is more than 85% – have zero balance. A source said that in the last one year, about 5 crore wallets have balance or are active.
There are concerns that some Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) beneficiaries may be affected by the RBI action, but it has emerged that in the last six months, there were around 1 lakh unique users who have received the benefits in Paytm Payments Bank accounts.
