In a shocking decision last week, the Reserve Bank of India had ordered Paytm Payments Bank not to accept fresh deposits or top-ups in any customer account, wallets or FASTags after February 29, citing non-compliance and regulatory concerns. Since then, the company has been working to allay users’ concerns, with CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma also coming forward to confirm that the Paytm app will continue to work beyond February 29.

A recent report by Moneycontrol has now revealed that since the RBI order, there has been a significant increase in the number of downloads from the Google Play store for a number of Paytm’s competitors such as PhonePe, Google Pay and NPCI’s BHIM app.

The report, citing data from app intelligence firm Appfigures, noted that PhonePe saw a 45% week-on-week increase in app downloads with 2.79 lakh app downloads on February 3 compared to 1.92 lakh downloads on January 29. Meanwhile, in the four-day period following the RBI order, PhonePe saw a 24.1% increase in app downloads from 8.4 lakh downloads between January 24-27 to 10.4 lakh downloads between January 31 and February 3.

Another Paytm competitor, National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) BHIM app also recorded a significant 21.5 % week-on-week increase in app downloads from 1.11 lakh downloads on January 27 to 1.35 lakh downloads on February 3. Moreover, during the four-day period from January 31 – February 3, the BHIM app witnessed a 50 per cent increase in app downloads from 3.97 lakh in the previous week to 5.93 lakh in the week ending February 3.

Meanwhile, Google Pay saw a modest week-on-week increase in the number of Android app downloads from 1.04 lakh on January 27 to 1.09 lakh on February 3. In the four days following the RBI decision, Google Pay saw an 8.4% increase in Android app downloads from 3.64 lakh in the previous week to 3.95 lakh downloads between January 31 – February 3.

Not only have downloads of Paytm’s rivals reportedly increased significantly, the Moneycontrol report notes that Android downloads of the Paytm app downloads also saw a 24 per cent week-on-week decline from 90,039 downloads on January 27 to 68,391 downloads on February 3. The company has also seen its ranking in the Google Play store drop from 18th to 40th in the free apps category.

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These bonds are considered part of the government’s borrowing, and their liabilities are calculated based on the market price of gold at the time of estimate preparation. 

The current value of outstanding SGBs held by the government is estimated to be Rs 69,998 crore, based on 131 tonnes of gold. 

The provision for SGB liabilities in FY25 has been revised upwards to Rs 96,136 crore, an increase of Rs 26,138 crore. Experts attribute this increase to the inclusion of bonds worth 40-45 tonnes of gold. 

SGBs have proven to be a popular investment due to their guaranteed return of 2.5% and exemption from capital gains tax on maturity.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s own energy demand will double by 2045 to 38 million barrels per day from current 19 million barrels a day.

The global oil market will require an investment of $14 trillion by 2045 to meet the rising energy demand of the world, said Haitham al-Ghais, Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Tuesday.

“The demand for oil will continue to rise and there is a need to ensure that supply is maintained,” Ghais said while speaking at the India Energy Week in Goa. He further noted that there will be a rise of 23% in energy requirement of the world from now to 2045.

Earlier during the inaugration of the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s own energy demand will double by 2045 to 38 million barrels per day from current 19 million barrels a day.

The Secretary General also said that oil will continue to maintain its share as a source of energy in the coming years even as the world economies strive to triple their renewable energy capacity as no single source will be able to fuel the growth in world energy demand.

The discussion comes amid the rising uncertainties including the ongoing geopolitical tensions, demand-supply disruptions, and tighter sanctions that have kept global oil market under pressure lately.

“We need to invest (in oil) to be able to ensure the security and reliability of the supply is maintained,” Ghais said. India’s Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that most of the crisis faced during the past few years were ‘self-inflicted’ and ‘policy induced’.

OPEC and energy ministers from Guyana and Qatar also stressed that there is a need to bring renewable energy in oil and gas sector but there still lies a long road ahead in completely phasing out conventional sources.

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The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has stated that the government’s efforts to control the rise in prices of essential commodities, particularly perishable goods, have led to a decrease in retail inflation.

 In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, she mentioned that measures are being taken to improve the preservation of highly perishable products like onions. 

The government is collaborating with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to enhance the shelf life of onions through de-humidification using gamma rays. 

The ban on onion exports has resulted in a 70% decrease in prices, and the government has released a significant quantity of onions in the market at a fixed price. 

Import restrictions have also been modified to ensure reasonable onion prices. Similar steps have been taken for other perishable goods like tomatoes.

 The government regularly reviews the situation and has successfully kept inflation within acceptable limits.

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Paytm issued a statement saying that no probe has been launched against the firm or its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma amid the RBI crackdown.

Fintech company Paytm on Monday dismissed the reports of the Enforcement Directorate investigating the firm or its founder for money laundering or FEMA violations as “misleading, baseless and malicious”.

Paytm said that the financial crime-fighting agency has not launched any probe against the parent brand One97 Communications or founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, amid allegations of money laundering.

This comes after the Reserve Bank of India issued a deadline to Paytm Payments Bank for halting its transactions after February 29.

Paytm said in a statement, “We would like to reiterate that the company and its associate Paytm Payments Bank Limited are not the subject matter of any such investigation. Such media reports are entirely misleading, baseless, and malicious, which harm the interests of all our stakeholders.”

In its statement, Paytm clarified that the ED has not launched any investigation against One97 Communications, its associates or top management. It also refuted claims of all alleged FEMA violations.

“We have since seen additional media reports making baseless speculations about investigations of the company or its associate Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) for violation of foreign exchange rules,” it said, adding that Paytm will continue to post such clarifications as required.

The company said, “To address recent misinformation, factual inaccuracies, and speculation, One97 Communications Limited (OCL, Paytm, or Company) would like to set out the company’s position and directly address rumours in the recent misleading media reports about the company. This filing is done in the interest of transparency and protecting our reputation, customers, shareholders, and stakeholders from being influenced by unwarranted and speculative stories. We will continue to post such clarifications as required.”

RBI crackdown against Paytm Payments Bank

The Reserve Bank of India recently issued a deadline to Paytm Payments Bank, ordering the company to stop all deposits or transactions after February 29 due to alleged violations of KYC regulations, raising concerns about money laundering.

Further, the banking regulatory body is also considering cancelling the operating permit of Paytm Payments Bank as early as March 2024. RBI said that the Paytm bank failed to abide by the minimum KYC rules for its account holders, with thousands of accounts registered under faulty documents.

Paytm Payments Bank has also been accused of multiple transactions beyond regulatory limits, raising money-laundering concerns. However, Paytm has reiterated that it abides by all the RBI rules and parameters set by the Government of India.

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Paytm Crisis: This comes as the Reserve Bank of India launched a major clampdown on Paytm Payments Bank.

A group of Indian startup founders wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Reserve Bank of India on the recent sanctions against Paytm, urging them to engage in constructive dialogue with the Fintech ecosystem, Moneycontrol reported.

Who are the signatories of the letter?

The letter has been signed by at least a dozen founders, it added. These include- Murugavel Janakiraman of Bharat Matrimony, Deepak Shenoy of CapitalMind, Ritesh Malik of Innov8, Vishal Gondal of GOQii, Yashish Dahiya of PB Fintech and Rajesh Magow of MakeMyTrip- as per the report.

What does the letter say about RBI amid Paytm crisis?

As per the report, the letter read, “RBI’s current, seemingly punitive, regulations levied against Paytm Payments Bank could have far-reaching and detrimental consequences for the entire FinTech ecosystem. The recent directives also impact millions of users of Paytm Payments Bank and such harshness needs to be revaluated to safeguard the best interests of customers and merchants.”

The letter also claimed that the sanctions against Paytm Payments Bank can impact the country’s image as a business-friendly nation as “excessively stringent regulations targeting prominent fintech innovators like Paytm Payments Bank could create an impression of inconsistency and unpredictability, potentially deterring potential investors and innovators from entering the Indian market.”

The founders also pushed for a review of RBI’s regulatory directions as “reassessing the proportionality of restrictions considering their potential impact on Paytm Payments Bank, the Fintech ecosystem, and the broader economy. Provision of a reasonable timeframe for rectification: Granting Paytm Payments Bank a clear and practical window to address identified deficiencies and demonstrate compliance.”

What Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said?

This comes as the Reserve Bank of India launched a major clampdown on Paytm Payments Bank citing regulatory standards and compliance requirements.

Meanwhile, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma assured that there will be no layoffs.

“We are not completely sure of things…like what exactly went wrong. But we will figure out everything soon. We will reach out to the RBI to see what can be done,” the founder told employees.

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