Calcutta, May 17: One 97 Communications Limited, the parent company of digital wallet and e-commerce service provider Paytm, has set May 23 as the launch date for its payments bank operation after months of delay.
"Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) has received the final licence from the RBI and will commence its operations on May 23, 2017," the company said in a public notice.
"According to the directions of the RBI, the company will be transferring its wallet business to the newly incorporated payments bank entity, Paytm Payments Bank, under a licence awarded to a resident Indian, Vijay Shekhar Sharma," the public notice added.
Sharma, the founder of Paytm, will hold majority share in Paytm Payments Bank, while One97 Communications will be the other shareholder.
Based in the National Capital Region, Paytm's current investors include Ant Financial (Alipay), SAIF Partners and Mediatek. Paytm expects its more than 200 million wallet subscribers to come under its payments bank.
"Your current Paytm Wallet will now move to Paytm Payments Bank in the same capacity, that is, KYC wallet as KYC wallet and minimum detail KYC wallet as minimum detail KYC wallet, if we do not receive any communication from you for the same before May 23," the public notice said. A full KYC wallet has a limit of Rs 1 lakh compared with a minimum KYC wallet's limit of Rs 20,000.
In case consumers do not wish to migrate, they have to inform Paytm, which will transfer the wallet balance to the consumer's bank account. Such a communication will have to be made before May 23.
If the wallet has been inactive for the last six months, the transfer to the payments bank will happen only when the consumer gives specific consent.
Renu Satti, vice-president (business) of Paytm, will be the CEO of the payments bank.
Paytm was earlier slated to begin operations around Diwali last year. In 2015, the RBI had awarded an in-principle approval to Sharma to set up the payments bank along with 10 others.
At present, Airtel and India Post are the only players to start payments banks. Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank is expected to launch services soon.
Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to Rs 1 lakh per account.
