To obtain a payment aggregator licence from the RBI, Paytm Payments Services (PPSL) will require regulatory clearance for investments from its parent company One97 Communications.
When giving licences to payment aggregators in November 2022, the RBI instructed Paytm to resubmit its application within 120 days of fulfilling the required requirements. Also, the central bank has forbidden it from bringing on new internet retailers.
An offshoot of China’s Alibaba Group, Antfin (Netherlands) Holdings, owns about 25% of the Paytm parent company. Last month, Alibaba sold a 3.3% interest in the business to end its direct ownership. The RBI has extended the deadline for submitting the application, Paytm has informed exchanges.
According to the letter from the RBI, PPSL may continue operating as an online payment aggregator while it waits for the government to approve a previous investment from One97 Communications into PPSL in accordance with FDI guidelines.
In accordance with the RBI’s letter, PPSL will have 15 days after receiving government approval to file the application seeking permission to function as an online payment aggregator. But, if the government makes any unfavourable decisions, these must be immediately communicated to the RBI. PPSL can continue operating its online payment aggregation operation for current partners during this time without adding any new merchants.
The filing also said that we can continue to offer payment services to our current online merchants and that the RBI restrictions only apply to the onboarding of new online merchants. One97 Communications can also keep adding new merchants and providing them with payment options for offline business.
