On October 22, Paytm’s parent company, One 97 Communications, announced that it has received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to start onboarding new users to its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform.
This approval is expected to provide significant relief to Paytm, as it allows the company to bring in new UPI users while ensuring compliance with all relevant procedural guidelines and circulars. In a late-evening filing with the BSE, Paytm stated, “We would like to inform you that, through a letter dated October 22, 2024, the NPCI has granted us permission to onboard new UPI users, provided we adhere to all NPCI procedural guidelines and circulars.”
The NPCI’s approval comes with specific conditions that must be followed, including adherence to ongoing guidelines and circulars regarding risk management, branding for the app and QR codes, multi-bank regulations, TPAP market share, and customer data management.
Moreover, One 97 Communications must comply with the stipulations outlined in the tri-partite agreement involving NPCI and PSP Banks. The NPCI letter addressed to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of One97 Communications, emphasizes the necessity of following all applicable laws and regulatory requirements, including the Payments and Settlement Act of 2007, the Information Technology Act of 2000, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023, and the circular on the Storage of Payment System Data issued in 2018.
The NPCI also noted that One 97 Communications had submitted a request on August 1, 2024, seeking approval to onboard new UPI users on the Paytm app, which had been halted following directions from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 31, 2024, and February 16, 2024. The filing concluded, “After reviewing your request, we hereby grant our approval, allowing One97 Communications Private Limited (OCL) to onboard new users on their UPI application,” while listing various compliance conditions.