After RBI curbs, now EPFO blocks Paytm Payments Bank
More trouble for Paytm Payments Bank as the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPFO) has now asked its officers to refrain from accepting claims associated with the Paytm subsidiary.
In a circular issued on Thursday, the EPFO, which comes under the ministry of labour and employment, stated,”All the field officers are advised to refrain from accepting claims associated with bank accounts in Paytm Payment Bank w.e.f February 23, 2024. A vide publicity should be initiated to raise awareness about this change.”
The EPFO, with a corpus of over 18 trillion rupees and covering nearly 30 crore workers, had allowed the Paytm Payments Bank to settle claims in November last year.
The EPFO order has been issued a week after the Reserve Bank of India asked Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting all deposits after February 29. “No further deposits or credit transactions or top ups shall be allowed in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, NCMC cards, etc. after February 29, 2024, other than any interest, cashbacks, or refunds which may be credited anytime,” the central bank had stated.
RBI says action due to ‘persistent non-compliance’
While commenting on its action, the RBI had said that action against Paytm Payments Bank was taken due to ‘persistent non-compliance’. “We give sufficient time to every entity to comply and sometimes more than sufficient time to the entities for compliance. If they would comply, why would a regulator like us would have to take action?” RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had said.
However, the central bank said that the action was taken against Paytm Payments Bank and the Paytm app will not be impacted. “Just one clarification, this particular action is against Paytm Payments Bank and not to be confused with Paytm App…App is not impacted by this action,” RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan J said on Thursday.
Das said there are a lot of questions and concerns in the minds of people about PPBL, and the Reserve Bank will be coming out with a detailed FAQ (frequently asked questions) next week.