Vijay Shekhar Sharma steps down from PPBL board, new chairman to be appointed soon

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Vijay Shekhar Sharma has resigned from the Board of embattled Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL), One97 Communications (OCL), told the stock exchanges on February 26, which owns the Paytm brand.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma resigned from the Board of Paytm Payments Bank to enable the reconstitution of the board, OCL informed the bourses and added, "PPBL has informed us that they will commence the process of appointing a new chairman".

A press release by One97 Communications Ltd said that former Central Bank of India Chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former Executive Director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and retired IAS Rajni Sekhri Sibal have joined the PPBL Board. They have joined as independent directors.

Apart from them, the board will include former Executive Director of Punjab & Sind Bank Arvind Kumar Jain as Independent Director and Surinder Chawla, MD & CEO at Paytm Payments Bank.

"OCL supports PPBL’s move of opting for a board with only independent and executive directors by removing its nominee," the statement added.

Welcoming the new members, Chawla said, "We welcome the appointment of Shri Srinivasan Sridhar, Shri Debendranath Sarangi, Shri Ashok Kumar Garg, and Smt Rajni Sekhri Sibal to our Board, marking a significant step forward in PPBL's journey. Their distinguished expertise will be pivotal in guiding us toward enhancing our governance structures and operational standards, further solidifying our dedication to compliance and best practices.”

On January 31, the RBI imposed major business restrictions on PPBL, including a bar on accepting fresh deposits and doing credit transactions after February 29. On February 16, it extended the deadline to March 15.

Currently, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is examining a request by One97 Communication to become a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) for the UPI channel, for the continued operation of the Paytm UPI app.