After RBI Clampdown, Paytm Shares Important Updates For Its Users

A day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) instructed Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) to cease its widely-used mobile wallet operations and other related activities, the company responded to user inquiries by addressing frequently asked questions.

The payments firm took to X, formerly Twitter to address user concerns through an FAQ. In multiple posts on X, Paytm answered questions after RBI ordered the payments bank subsidiary of Paytm to stop accepting fresh deposits in its accounts or popular wallets from March.

The company issued a clarification about FASTag, Paytm said that the RBI order does not impact user deposits in their savings accounts, wallets, FASTags, and NCMC accounts, and they can continue to use the existing balances.

"You can continue to use the existing balance on your Paytm FASTag. We started our journey of working with other banks over the last two years, which we will now accelerate. We are working on effective solutions to ensure a seamless customer experience and will keep you posted," the company said on X.

The company also clarified whether the POS machine/soundbox will work. Paytm wrote, "Your Paytm POS and Soundbox services remain unaffected and we will continue to onboard new offline merchants."

The company issued a clarification about investments with Paytm Money. It said, "Your investments with @PaytmMoney are safe. The recent directives on our associate bank do not affect Paytm Money's operations."

In another post, the company clarified that the Paytm NCMC card will continue to work. "You can continue using the existing balances on your NCMC Cards. We started our journey of working with other banks over the last two years, which we will now accelerate."

The RBI order said that any interest, cashbacks, or refunds may be credited back to Paytm customers at any time.

"No other banking services other than those...like fund transfers (irrespective of name and nature of services like AEPS, IMPS, etc), BBPOU and UPI facility should be provided by the bank after February 29, 2024," the central bank had said.

Responding to the RBI move, Paytm said late on Wednesday that its parent company One97 Communication Limited (OCL) works with various banks.

Meanwhile, founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, "This is an important moment for all of us, we have seen the update from RBI. The important thing is that we have been given directions and are taking immediate steps to comply."

He added, "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."

"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," Mr Sharma said.