The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Ban on Paytm Payment Bank: 85% of wallet users unlikely to be impacted, says RBI Guv
RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said that nearly 85 per cent of Paytm payment wallet users are unlikely to be affected by the clampdown on Paytm Payments Bank, as their wallet or app is also linked to other bank accounts.
The RBI has advised the Paytm Payment Bank (PPBL) to shift the remaining Paytm wallet users, whose app is linked only to the payment bank account, to other banks.
On January 31, the RBI barred PPBL from accepting deposits or top-ups in any customer account, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTAGS and NCMC card after February 29, 2024, in the wake of persistent non-compliances and material. The deadline was later extended to March 15.
“About 80 to 85 per cent of the customers who are using the Paytm payment app will not be impacted at all because their app is also linked to another bank account of theirs. Therefore, their payments can go on in a non-disruptive manner,” Das said in an interview with news channel ET Now.
He said the challenge is with regard to the remaining 15 or 20 per cent of Paytm wallet users who have linkage only with a bank account in PPBL.
“…we have advised the Paytm Payment Bank to shift these customers to other banks. Other banks are also proactively onboarding customers,” Das said.
He said even the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the retail payments and settlement body, is working closely with various banks to ensure smooth onboarding of such customers.
The governor also made an appeal to Paytm wallet users, who have their app linked only to their PPBL account, to link
their wallet to another bank account before March 15.
When asked if the RBI would extend the March 15 deadline for Paytm wallet users, Das said as per assessment, the time given till March 15 would be sufficient.
Das reiterated that the RBI’S ban on PPBL should not be considered as action against the fintech sector. He said fintech companies do not come under the RBI regulation unless they are non-banking financial company (NBFC) lenders.
“I do not see any reason why a narrative was built up as if the Reserve Bank has taken some measures against fintech companies. We have not taken any action against any fintech companies,” Das said.
He said as far as RBI’S regulated entities are concerned, fintechs provide third-party service. Therefore, it is upon the banking regulator to fix the responsibility on the bank, or the NBFCS, that are utilising the services of fintechs, to follow the rules of the game.
On the growth, Das said the kind of momentum of economic activity which has been witnessed and the high-frequency indicators that the RBI is getting on a continuous basis, there is every possibility of the 7.6 per cent growth for FY2024 being exceeded.
The recent data from the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the country’s economy is expected to grow at 7.6 per cent in 2023-24.
The Governor said the RBI has data for the first three quarters of the current fiscal, and the implicit growth for the fourth (January-march) quarter is 5.9 per cent. However, the high-frequency indicators suggest that the growth in Q4 FY2024 will exceed 5.9 per cent, which means that the full-year growth will be more than 7.6 per cent.
“I think there is a good chance of the GDP growth number for the current year (FY2024) being very close to 8 per cent,” Das said.