Paytm on Monday confirmed the media reports and announced that Manju Agarwal, independent director of Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), has resigned from her position. In a regulatory filing, Paytm said, “We hereby submit that our associate entity, Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), has informed us that Manju Agarwal, Independent Director resigned from the Board of PPBL on February 01, 2024, due to her personal commitments which was noted by PPBL Board on February 06, 2024.” Manju Agarwal is a former Deputy Managing Director at SBI, and had been a part of the PPBL board since May 2021.
Paytm further stated, “We hereby submit that PPBL is our associate entity and this event is not deemed material for the company and does not impact the operations/ business of the company, as per the provisions of Regulation 30 of the SEBI.”
Earlier on Friday, One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, had announced the formation of a Group Advisory Committee regarding the regulatory and compliance concerns. In a statement, Paytm had said that the advisory group will be headed by ex-SEBI boss Meleveetil Damodaran. He “will work closely with the board,” the fintech major had stated in the statement.
On January 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed major business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank, including a bar on accepting fresh deposits and doing credit transactions after February 29. It found major irregularities in KYC, which exposed the customers, depositors, and wallet holders to serious risks. In its probe, the RBI found that in thousands of cases, the same PAN was linked to more than 100 customers and in some cases to more than 1,000 customers. It also found an unusually high number of dormant accounts, which could have been used as mule accounts.