Paytm Payments Bank Board Is Independent, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma Says

The board of India's Paytm Payments Bank is independent and capable of addressing regulatory concerns, the chief executive officer of digital payments firm Paytm, formally known as One97 Communications Ltd, (OCL) said on Monday.

"I, personally or anyone from OCL, have no connection with the payments bank," Vijay Shekhar Sharma said at a webinar.

"There is an independent board taking care of everything and we have full faith in their capability."

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in late January had ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting new deposits in its accounts or digital wallets from March, citing supervisory concerns and persistent non-compliance with rules.

Paytm Payments Bank's parent is One 97 Communications, popularly known as Paytm for its digital payments app.

One97 owns 49 percent in the payments bank, while Sharma holds the remaining 51 percent.

In February, following the RBI's order, Sharma stepped down as non-executive chairman and board member of Paytm Payments Bank.

Last month, Paytm was granted a third-party application provider license by the country's payments authority, which will enable it to facilitate payments after its banking unit ceased operations.

The license will allow customers to continue using the Paytm app for payments through India's popular unified payment interface (UPI), after Paytm Payments Bank ceased operations by March 15, following regulatory action due to non-compliance with certain norms.

Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Yes Bank will act as payment system provider banks to Paytm, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) had said in a statement at the time.

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