Paytm shares slump to all-time low after RBI's curbs on payment bank

Shares of Paytm tumbled more than 12% to Rs.672 apiece on the BSE in Monday's early deals, hitting an all-time low.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred Paytm Payments Bank, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, from onboarding new customers until a comprehensive audit of its information technology system is done.

Onboarding of new customers by Paytm Payments Bank Ltd will be subject to specific permission to be granted by the central bank after reviewing the report of the information technology auditors, it added. Paytm Payments Bank is 51% owned by Sharma, while One97 Communications holds the rest.

One 97 Communications Ltd, Paytm's parent company, raised $2.5 billion in its IPO, but a 27% plunge in its November 18, 2021 debut made it one of the worst initial showings by a major technology firm since the dot-com bubble era of the late 1990s. The stock has declined more than 49% in 2022 (year-to-date or YTD) so far, whereas it is down about 56% since listing.