New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a statement issued on Friday, said it has asked the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to examine the request of Paytm to become a Third-Party Application Provider for UPI channel “for continued UPI operation of the Paytm app”.
RBI also noted that in exercise of its powers under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, it has put certain business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank. The RBI statement on Paytm also listed out a few FAQs.
In a statement, the RBI said it released the FAQs on February 16 for the benefit of customers, wallet holders and merchants who are availing banking services from Paytm Payments Bank.
The statement said, “As the Paytm Payments Bank cannot accept further credits into its customer accounts and wallets after March 15, 2024, certain additional steps have become necessary to ensure seamless digital payments by UPI customers using ‘@paytm’ handle operated by the Paytm Payments Bank and minimise concentration risk in the UPI system by having multiple payment app providers.”
It added, “National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been advised by the RBI to examine the request of One97 Communication Ltd (OCL) to become a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) for UPI channel for continued UPI operation of the Paytm app, as per the norms.”
“It has been further advised that in the event of NPCI granting TPAP status to OCL, it may be stipulated that ‘@paytm’ handles are to be migrated in a seamless manner from Paytm Payments Bank to a set of newly identified banks to avoid any disruption. No new users are to be added by the said TPAP until all the existing users are migrated satisfactorily to a new handle,” the statement said.
The RBI statement further said, “For seamless migration of ‘@paytm’ handle to other banks, NPCI may facilitate certification of 4-5 banks as Payment Service Provider (PSP) Banks with demonstrated capabilities to process high volume UPI transactions. This is in line with NPCI norms for minimising concentration risk.”
It added, “For the merchants using PayTM QR Codes, OCL may open the settlement accounts with one or more PSP Banks (other than Paytm Payments Bank).”
RBI clarification for Paytm users
- The migration of UPI handles as above is applicable only to such customers and merchants who have a UPI handle ‘@Paytm’. For others who have a UPI address or handle other than ‘@Paytm’, no action is required to be taken by them.
- Similarly, the customers, whose underlying account/ wallet is currently with Paytm Payments Bank, are advised to make alternative arrangement with other banks well before March 15, 2024, as already advised in the FAQs
- It is reiterated that the holders of FASTag and National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) issued by Paytm Payments Bank, may make alternative arrangements before March 15, 2024 to avoid any inconvenience.
- All the above actions are undertaken in the sole interest of protecting the customers and payment system from any possible disruptions and are without any prejudice to the regulatory or supervisory actions initiated by RBI against Paytm Payments Bank.
