PPBL's Manju Agarwal steps down as independent director

Manju Agarwal, an independent director at Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), has resigned from its board with effect from February 1, according to media reports.

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Agarwal resigned from the board following the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restrictions on PPBL.

Source: Paytm

Agarwal is a former Deputy Managing Director at SBI, and had been serving on the PPBL board since May 2021.

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On January 31, the RBI imposed major business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank, including a bar on accepting fresh deposits and doing credit transactions after February 29.

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The regulator found major irregularities in KYC, which exposed the customers, depositors, and wallet holders to serious risks.

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In its probe, the RBI found that in thousands of cases, the same PAN was linked to more than 100 customers and in some cases to more than 1,000 customers.

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The total value of transactions, running into crores of rupees, is much beyond regulatory limits in minimum KYC pre-paid instruments, raising money-laundering concerns.

Source: Paytm

The regulator also found an unusually high number of dormant accounts, which could have been used as mule accounts.

Source: Paytm

There are also concerns relating to money laundering arising from deficiencies in the KYC processes and the lack of a transaction monitoring system in the bank.

Source: Paytm

The RBI has directed the payments bank to settle all pipeline transactions and nodal accounts by March 15 and said no further transaction shall be permitted thereafter.

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