India defers approval of Paytm's investment in its payments arm
Paytm Payment Services arm in part due to concerns about a Chinese shareholding in the parent company, according to three government officials and a document seen by Reuters.
One 97 Communications, popularly known as Paytm, is already under the scrutiny of India's banking regulator and financial crime-fighting agency after the central bank ordered it to wind down its payments bank in January. The sources indicated this was another reason for the deferral.
Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses
Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIM KozhikodeIIMK Advanced Data Science For ManagersVisitIIT DelhiIITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisitIIM LucknowIIML Executive Programme in FinTech, Banking & Applied Risk ManagementVisitPaytm sought government approval last year for the investment it had already made in its newly established payments gateway arm, a necessary step for Paytm Payments Services to receive the payment aggregator licence necessary to accept online payments.
<div data-placement=«Mid Article Thumbnails» data-target_type=«mix» data-mode=«thumbnails-mid» style=«min-height:400px; margin-bottom:12px;» class=«wdt-taboola» id=«taboola-mid-article-thumbnails-109347916»>
A government panel consisting of representatives of India's home affairs, finance and industries ministries must approve the investment, with input from the foreign office as China-based Antfin (Netherlands) Holdings owns a 9.88% stake in Paytm.
Although the Ministry of Home Affairs approved the investment in January, the foreign ministry rejected it citing «political grounds», according to the officials and the document, so the decision was deferred.
One source said the entity's Chinese ownership has been a
