Paytm advisory panel discussing terms of reference with company: M. Damodaran

Paytm owner One97 Communications’ advisory committee, led by former SEBI chairman M Damodaran, is engaging with the company to set up terms of reference for the panel after RBI’s action in its payments bank

An advisory committee, set up by Paytm owner One97 Communications after the Reserve Bank of India's action on its payments bank business, is at a stage of engagement with the company on matters related to the terms of reference for the panel, the panel's head and former SEBI chairman M. Damodaran said.

"We have been engaging with the group on matters relating to the Advisory Committee's terms of reference," Mr. Damodaran said on February 26 in response to a query about his engagement with Paytm. He said that the panel members are external advisors and presently Paytm is engaged in dealing with the RBI.

Mr. Damodaran is the head of Paytm’s group advisory committee which will advise the company on strengthening compliance and on regulatory matters. The committee was set up on February 9.

Also read: Paytm Payments Bank meltdown, its meaning | Explained

On January 31, the RBI asked PPBL (Paytm Payments Bank Ltd) to stop further deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, and National Common Mobility Cards, after February 29. Later, the central bank extended the deadline till March 15.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bankb on Feb, 23 asked the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to examine the possibility of migrating Paytm Payments Bank customers using the UPI handle '@paytm' to 4-5 other banks, in a bid to prevent any disruptions in the payment ecosystem.

Mr. Damodaran was speaking at the release of his biography 'The Turmeric Latte' compiled by one of his former colleagues. During a panel discussion at the event, when he was asked about his views on the current functioning of SEBI, he said the capital markets regulator has bandwidth problems with respect to the large amount of issues that it has to handle. "SEBI has a huge challenge. The bandwidth seems inadequate to tackle the large number of issues that they have to tackle. In the process, it sometimes feels like they are biting more than they can chew," he said.