Paytm Payments Bank's Independent Director, Manju Agarwal, Resigns Following Regulatory Action by RBI

Following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) regulatory action against Paytm Payments Bank, its independent director Manju Agarwal reportedly stepped down. The RBI on January 31, stopped Paytm Payments Bank from onboarding new customers and asked them to stop their key banking services from February 29. According to a report in CNBC-TV18, Agarwal who was serving in the board since May 2021 resigned from the board with immediate effect on February 1. 

The RBI said on Thursday that the apex bank is trying to minimise any inconvenience to the customer. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that they give sufficient time to entities such as Paytm to comply before they take any regulatory action. Governor Das also said that the central bank will come out with a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on fintechs to allay customer doubts. He said that bank takes supervisory action only when constructive engagement does not work. "Why should we act if an entity is compliant with regulation? We are a responsible regulator," said Governor Das.  The company has also reportedly asked for an extension of the February 29 deadline. Sharma also sought to clarify from RBI regarding transfer of licence for the wallets business and FASTag. However, no resolution or forward movement was decided. 

Meanwhile, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma reportedly met RBI officials to discuss the regulatory action against the company’s payments bank unit. They met the officials to reportedly discuss the roadmap to address the regulatory concerns.