Paytm mulls investing Rs 250 cr to expand Paytm QR in tier IV and V towns

Company News

Digital payments major Paytm Wednesday said it will invest Rs 250 crore this year for the expansion of Paytm QR in tier IV and V towns.
"With this investment, Paytm expects to reach more than 20 million merchants across India by the end of this fiscal," it said in a statement.
Paytm had introduced QR code-based payments to enable merchants, irrespective of the size of their business, to receive money directly into their bank account.
"More than 1.2 crore merchants across the country already accept payments through Paytm QR. However, the majority of these are based in larger towns and cities. We are aiming to reach merchants in smallest of towns across India such as Ajmer, Bekgaon, Kurnool, Rohtak, and Latur," Paytm Senior Vice President Deepak Abbot said.Paytm said the cost of on-boarding a merchant in a small town is at least three to four times more compared to larger cities.
The company is focussing on getting more than 60 per cent of merchants on-boarded from these tier IV and V towns."In the long run, we want to reach all of the 26-30 million merchants across every nook and corner of the country. We are progressing to enable financial inclusion in the remotest part of our country; and therefore, the Paytm QR accepts all digital payment instruments such as UPI, wallets, credit cards, debit cards, and net banking," Abbot said.

 In a separate statement, Paytm Money - a wholly-owned subsidiary of One97 Communications that owns Paytm - said it has received the approval from the QR Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to offer National Pension System (NPS) on its platform.With this service, investors registered with Paytm Money will be able to invest in NPS.The company aims to offer NPS services (both Tier 1 and Tier 2 accounts) from all eight major pension fund managers on the platform, the statement said.

New rule will give surplus reserves of Sebi, pension regulator to govt

Economy & Policy:

The central government has decided to frame a rule that would mandate regulators and other autonomous bodies to transfer surplus funds to the exchequer, said two government sources privy to the development. The new guideline is expected to come in a month.

The move would make the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and a dozen other regulators, such as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), to shell out a significant portion of their reserves into the Consolidated Fund of India. The Centre has been eyeing these resources that would help it reduce fiscal deficit. Experts, however, said this could infringe on the independence of the regulatory bodies.

We have asked Sebi to provide details of expenses they require for their internal operations. The rest of it would go to a public account and the government can allocate funds as and when required,” said a source cited above. According to him, a final consensus is required on the operational aspect of the surplus fund. This needs more deliberation.


 New rule will give surplus reserves of Sebi, pension regulator to govtSebi holds the highest surplus reserves, followed by Irdai, among autonomous bodies. So, the government is planning to first amend the Sebi Act; later, changes would be made to other Acts of the governing bodies...Read More