Govt to look at change of ownership holding of fintechs to enable regulatory compliance

During the meeting, the DPIIT mentioned that new patent examiners have been added that will reduce the turn-around-time of patent applications.

The statement has stressed that the cost of lending and funding for critical areas including the priority sector should be rationalised and that the know your customer (KYC) process across all fintech segments must be simplified and digitised.

The government also noted that issues pertaining to cybercrime will be suitably addressed in the new Digital India Act.

The government statement on the meeting of fintech leaders and the FM comes at a time when the founder and majority owner of Paytm Payments Bank Vijay Shekhar Sharma has stepped down from the board. Sharma owns a 51% stake in Paytm Payments Bank, while One 97 Communications, as Paytm is formally known, owns the rest.

Paytm Payments Bank said on February 26 it was reconstituting the board of directors at the Paytm Payments Bank, an associate of Paytm, with the appointment of ex-Central Bank of India Chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former executive director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and Retd. IAS Rajni Sekhri Sibal as independent directors.

Sources have told CNBC-TV18 that the new board will focus squarely on the resolution of compliance issues pointed out by the RBI.

On February 19, Paytm shifted its nodal account to Axis Bank from Paytm Payments Bank. This will allow the company to continue operating the Paytm quick-response code, sound box as well as card machines after the RBI's deadline of March 15.