Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) order to stop almost all services of Paytm Payments Bank after February 29 is more of a speed bump, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said on Thursday.
While addressing the media, Sharma said One97 Communications Ltd (OCL) already works with various other banks and Paytm Payments Bank was one of the key banks. From here on the company is clear that it will work with various other banks and not Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL).
“On behalf of Paytm, this is more of a speed bump, but we believe in partnership of the banks and we will be able to see to the same in the next few days,” he stated.
“Many large banks have reached out to us offering support and we are overwhelmed. We will have to change our Virtual Payment Address (VPA) as we partner with other banks. The decision to change partner banks will happen in a few weeks,” Sharma stated.
“OCL and PPSL are already in the process of moving nodal accounts to other banks, and marketing business services are not affected due to these directions,” he added.
No details have been shared with Paytm separately, but Paytm Payments Bank is already in talks with RBI to solve issues concerning the bank’s customers.
Bhavesh Gupta, President and COO, Paytm said in offline versions, where we see All-in-one QR, powered by Paytm Payments Bank, now that QR will need to be changed to any other sponsored bank. This will be a large exercise, the new acquisition will immediately start in a week or two.
He further added that the company had been working with various other partners. On equity and insurance areas, he pointed out that both remain unaffected as they are done independently.
On Wednesday evening, the RBI had imposed restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank Ltd following a system audit report and subsequent compliance validation report of external auditors.
In March 2022, the apex bank had directed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd to stop onboarding of new customers.
Reacting on the news, the Paytm’s stock was down 20%, at the bottom of an exchange-imposed trading band, marking its worst day since listing in 2021.
The stock fell to a six-week low of 609 rupees, erasing around USD 1.2 billion in value from the company also known as One 97 Communications. Sharma lost USD 233 million as shares tumbled.
Paytm Payments Bank issued a clarification statement on Thursday saying it would take immediate steps to comply with RBI directions, including working with the regulator to address their concerns as quickly as possible.
It also said that it expects Rs 300-500 crore impact on EBITDA after RBI ban.