Leading financial services provider Paytm announced on Monday that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder and CEO, has resigned from his position as Non-Executive Chairman and Board Member of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) in anticipation of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) impending prohibition on the bank’s operations.

The company said in a BSE filing that the PPBL reconstituted the Board with the appointment of retired IAS officers Debendranath Sarangi and Rajni Sekhri Sibal, former executive director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and former chairman of the Central Bank of India Srinivasan Sridhar.

One 97 Communications Ltd (OCL) will reassemble the Board to oversee PPBL’s future operations following the RBI’s March 15 ban on bank operations. They became Independent Directors recently.

“OCL withdraws its nominee from the Paytm Payments Bank Board and Vijay Shekhar Sharma steps down as part-time, non-executive Chairman and Board member,” the filing stated.

By withdrawing its nominee, the company stated that it supports PPBL’s decision to choose a board composed solely of independent and executive directors.

“In order to facilitate this transition, Vijay Shekhar Sharma has also resigned from the Paytm Payments Bank Board, the company has been informed separately. The company stated in its filing that “PPBL has informed us that they will begin the process of appointing a new Chairman.”

The central bank decided to extend the deadline for Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. to cease accepting deposits by 15 days, to March 15, which is a noteworthy development.
The previous date that was set was February 29.

Users of the company’s mobile app can rest easy knowing that Soundbox, Card Machine, and QR codes will all still work after March 15th.

The CEO and MD of Paytm Payments Bank, Surinder Chawla, stated, “We welcome the appointment of Sridhar, Sarangi, Garg, and Sibal to our Board, marking a significant step forward in PPBL’s journey.”

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier directed that the PPBL terminate the nodal accounts of One 97 Communications Ltd (OCL) and Paytm Payment Services Ltd (PPSL).

Due to “persistent non-compliances” and “continuing material supervisory concerns” within the bank, the RBI terminated this.

The CEO and founder of Paytm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, met with Sitharaman in Delhi to ask for assistance, but he was told to speak with the regulator directly.

Over 30 crore people use Paytm, with about 11 crore of those users transacting each month. Additionally, it has a network of about a crore merchants who take payments on a regular basis. Users of the company’s mobile app can rest easy knowing that Soundbox, Card Machine, and QR codes will all still work after March 15th.

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