Paytm: Rockstar Indian fintech start-up faces serious crisis
A small grocery store in India's financial capital Mumbai has begun asking customers to pay cash as a popular digital payments service, which it used until now, is facing uncertainty over its survival.
India's central bank has asked Paytm - the company that revolutionised digital payments in the country - to stop all services offered by its banking division, also known as the wallet service, due to "persistent non-compliance" of its rules. The division supports Swift payments through the Paytm app, which has more than 330 million users.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reportedly accused Paytm of financial crimes, including falsifying customer information and money laundering.
It has asked the company to stop accepting deposits into people's Paytm bank accounts, or wallets, from 1 March, although customers would be allowed to continue making payments until the balance in their accounts is exhausted.
Meanwhile, Paytm has denied the allegations. In a statement the company said that "the Paytm app remains fully operational, and our services are unaffected".
