Paytm stock nosedives after RBI raps payments bank, loses total Rs 17,397 crore

The RBI on Wednesday ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting fresh deposits in its accounts or popular digital wallets from March, raising worries over revenues from the company's main payments business.

Bengaluru: Shares of Indian digital payments firm Paytm tumbled to near record lows on Friday after a central bank clampdown on its payments bank continued to weigh on investor sentiment despite the company's attempts to assuage fears of a hit to its business.

Paytm shares were at 487.2 rupees, their lowest in more than a year and 48.85 rupees away from the previous record low of 438.35 rupees. The price was the bottom of the exchange-imposed daily trading limit for the second day in a row, leading the stock to lose a total Rs 17,397 crore ($2.1 billion) in value.

Shares of the company are now down 36 per cent so far this week.

"Your favourite app is working, will keep working beyond February 29 as usual," Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in a post on X on Friday, in the company's latest attempt to calm the nerves of its app users.

"For every challenge, there is a solution, and we are sincerely committed to serve our nation in full compliance," Sharma added.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting fresh deposits in its accounts or popular digital wallets from March, raising worries over revenues from the company's main payments business.

The bank, which houses all of Paytm's 330 million wallet accounts, is important to the company's app and wallet eco-system, which could be hit if Paytm cannot find banking partners to replace its payments bank.

On Thursday, Bhavesh Gupta, president and chief operating officer of Paytm, said on a call with analysts after market hours on Thursday that Paytm expects to get back to normalcy by March, "if not earlier".

He added that the company had been holding discussions with the RBI and those have been on the "positive side".

Jefferies in a note said there was no clarity on RBI actions after the company's analyst call and added that the recent events would drag the company's growth and elongate profitability timelines.