Paytm non-executive director Munish Ravinder Varma resigns

One97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of fintech major Paytm, on Tuesday said that its director Munish Ravinder Varma has resigned.

The company cited personal commitments and other pre-occupations as the reason for his resignation.

"...Munish Ravinder Varma, non-executive, non-independent director of the company, has tendered his resignation vide resignation letter dated March 14, 2022, with effect from the closure of business hours on March 14, 2022, due to personal commitments and other pre-occupations," the company said in an exchange filing.

With Varma's resignation, Vikas Agnihotri, who was alternate director to Varma, has also ceased to be alternate director of the company from closure of business hours on March 14, 2022, it added.

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked Paytm's associate Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PBBL) to stop onboarding new customers with immediate effect. The bank was also directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive system audit of its IT system.

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On Saturday, Paytm said that the bank was taking immediate steps to comply with RBI directions, including appointment of a reputed external auditor to conduct a comprehensive system audit of its IT systems. 

The company also clarified that the central bank's direction will not have any impact on the services that Paytm provides in partnership with other financial services institutions. 

On Monday, PBBL rejected a media report which claimed that the RBI's direction to the bank to stop onboarding new customers on its platform came because the bank was found to be sharing data with Chinese firms.

PBBL said it is fully compliant with RBI's directions on data localisation and all of its data resides within India.

Also Read: Paytm Payments Bank calls media report on data leak to Chinese firms "false"