Paytm Payments Bank fined Rs 5.49 crore for violating money laundering norms

PTC News Desk: Paytm Payments Bank has been fined Rs 5.49 crore for alleged money laundering. This comes a month after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered it to stop accepting new deposits in its accounts or wallets on February 29. The deadline was extended to March 15. 

The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) said in a statement that it reviewed Paytm Payments Bank after receiving information from law enforcement agencies about alleged illegal activities, including online gambling. 

The FIU-IND stated that some entities routed these funds through Paytm Payments Bank, in violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"... The money generated from these illegal operations, i.e. proceeds of crime were routed and channelled through bank accounts maintained by these entities with Paytm Payments Bank Ltd," said the Financial Intelligence Unit-India. 

Following the RBI order last month, Paytm shifted its nodal account to Axis Bank (by opening an escrow account) in order to maintain seamless merchant settlements as before. It had then insisted that its QR codes, soundbox, and card machines would continue to function after the RBI's March 15 deadline. 

The RBI stated that the deadline extension was intended to provide customers, including merchants, with "a little more time" to make alternative arrangements.

The RBI stated that after March 15, no further deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups will be permitted in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, National Common Mobility Cards, and so on.

Customers can withdraw or use funds from their Paytm Payments Bank accounts and wallets until they are exhausted, but they cannot add new funds after March 15, it said.

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