After nearly a 12 year stint, Airtel Payments Bank Managing Director and CEO Shashi Arora has quit the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel group. Shashi Arora has resigned in the wake of the firm’s eKYC licence suspension by Aadhaar-issuing body UIDAI. “Shashi has decided to move on to pursue opportunities outside of Airtel. We wish Shashi the very best for his future endeavours,” the company said in a statement. “He has been an asset for Airtel and over the years has contributed to the company’s growth story, the statement added. If you are wondering who is Shashi Arora, hre are 5 facts you need to know about him:
1.Shashi Arora has been working with Airtel in senior leadership roles since 2006. He was appointed MD and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank on June 1, 2016.
2. Shashi Arora headed the company’s DTH business for about five years, becoming the Director and CEO of Airtel DTH, before taking over as the MD and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank last year in June 2016.
3. Prior to this, he was part of Airtel’s Mobile business and has served as CEO of the Upper North cluster (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and J&K) as well as CEO of the Delhi Circle.
4. Before joining Bharti Airtel, he was the Group Marketing Head for Kotak Mahindra Bank handling marketing, brand advertising and PR for all Group Companies including the Bank, MF, Insurance and Securities business. Previously, he was involved in sales and branding roles at Hindustan Unilever Ltd, according to his LinkedIn profile.
5. Shashi Arora holds an Engineering degree along with an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur.
Shashi’s resignation has raised eyebrows as he has quit amid the controversy over Aadhaar e-KYC. The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) had barred Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank from conducting Aadhaar-based verification of customers using the eKYC process. The action was taken following allegations that Bharti Airtel was using the Aadhaar-eKYC based SIM verification process to open payments bank accounts of its subscribers without their ‘informed consent’. UIDAI on Thursday allowed Bharti Airtel to use Aadhaar for re-verification of its mobile customers till January 10 with stiff riders after it returned Rs 138-crore LPG subsidy remitted to the unsolicited payments bank accounts. It, however, maintained that Airtel Payments Bank eKYC licence will remain suspended till final enquiry and audit report.
