BENGALURU : Money laundering concerns and KYC non-compliance have reportedly led the RBI to clamp down on Vijay Sekhar Sharma-run entities.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred Paytm Payments Bank from accepting deposits, credit transactions and top ups in any customer account after February 29. This comes as a big setback for the bank as the central bank cited persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank, warranting further supervisory action.
Earlier in March 2022, the central bank directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding of new customers with immediate effect and it still maintains the curb. Patym holds 49% in the payments bank and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma holds the rest (51%).
According to sources quoted by agencies, the PPBL had lakhs of non-KYC compliant accounts and in thousands of cases single PANs were used for opening multiple accounts. There were instances where the total value of transactions - running into crores of rupees, much beyond regulatory limits in minimum KYC pre-paid instruments raising money laundering concerns.
Reports say that Paytm Payments Bank has about 35 crore e-wallets and of the total, about 31 crore are dormant while only about 4 crore would be operative with either no balance or a small balance. Meanwhile, State Bank of India on Saturday said it is ready to help Paytm customers who will be affected by the RBI’s order to stop almost all its activities from March 1.