Paytm's woes deepen

The Reserve Bank of India recently ordered the Fintech giant to halt certain services due to ongoing compliance issues

Image credit: Image Creator from Microsoft Designer/DALL.E and Canva

Paytm, once a leading Fintech startup in India, has faced a significant decline in its stock market performance this week, losing 77% of its value since its high-profile IPO in 2021.

Here are a few key points:

• The company's shares have plummeted by the maximum allowed for two consecutive days in Mumbai, despite overall market highs.

• Since its troubled market debut in November 2021, Paytm has struggled to convince investors of its profitability amid stiff competition and other factors (more on that later).

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently ordered the bank arm of Paytm (Paytm Payments Bank Ltd) to halt certain services due to ongoing compliance issues, further exacerbating the company's troubles.

• Paytm gained prominence in 2016 when the Indian government banned high-value currency notes, prompting a surge in digital transactions and user adoption for the platform.

Paytm’s controversies over the years:

• PayPal filed a trademark case against Paytm in 2016 over logo similarities.

• In 2018, a video surfaced alleging Paytm's sharing of user data with the Indian government, sparking privacy concerns. Paytm denied the claims and accused telecom companies of neglecting phishing activities, suing them for ₹100 crores.

• In 2020, Google briefly removed Paytm from its Play Store, citing gambling policy violations. Paytm countered, alleging bias compared to Google Pay.

• In 2022, the Reserve Bank of India halted Paytm Payments Bank from enrolling new customers due to data leakage to Chinese entities.

• On January 31, 2024, RBI ordered Paytm Payments Bank to halt some activities from February 29, 2024, due to inadequate fund source background checks.