New Delhi: Hitting out at the government after the RBI action against Paytm Payments Bank, the Congress on Thursday said the order will hit ordinary Indians the most and asked why the firm with Chinese links had not been kept under stricter monitoring. In a major action against Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL), the Reserve Bank on Wednesday directed the lender to stop accepting deposits or top-ups in any customer accounts, wallets, FASTags and other instruments after February 29.
However, any interest, cashbacks, or refunds may be credited back to customers anytime. "No other banking services, other than those...like fund transfers (irrespective of name and nature of services like AEPS, IMPS, etc), BBPOU and UPI facility should be provided by the bank after February 29, 2024," the RBI added. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The last 10 years under PM Modi have brought only chaos to the banking system."
"First, the disastrous demonetisation decision, taken without any planning and over objections of the RBI. Then, bankruptcy of IL&FS in 2018 hit the NBFC sector. Thousands of crores of scams were done at Yes Bank and DHFL in 2018 as well. Lakshmi Vilas Bank and PMC Bank failed as well," Ramesh said. The likes of Nirav Modi got a free visa to abscond with public money, he alleged. It is ordinary Indians who have been left unable to withdraw their savings, the Congress leader added.
Now the RBI order against Paytm Payments Bank "will, as usual, hit ordinary Indians the most," Ramesh said. "Why has a firm with Chinese links -- at one point with 31% Chinese ownership and Chinese investment of more than Rs? 7000 crore -- ?which has previously been penalised by the RBI for noncompliance in 2022, not been kept under stricter monitoring?" he said. "Does this have anything to do with PayTM's vocal support on 9th November, 2016 of the disastrous demonetisation decision?" Ramesh asked and shared a newspaper advertisement from then in which the firm had thanked the PM for the step. The RBI, in a statement, said the direction follows persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns. On March 11, 2022, the RBI had barred PPBL from onboarding new customers with immediate effect. Paytm group firm PPBL did not offer any comments on the RBI's direction against the bank.
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