Paytm Payments Bank CEO Surinder Chawla Resigns

Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Surinder Chawla has resigned from his position. In an exchange filing on Tuesday, One97 Communications Ltd. said that Chawla has tendered his resignation on April 8. Accordingly, he would be relieved from the bank with effect from June 26, unless changed by mutual consent.

The filing added that Chawla resigned from the post due to personal reasons and to explore better career prospects.

"The Company would like to update that it has been informed by its associate entity, Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. on April 8, 2024 at 5.23 p.m, that Surinder Chawla, Managing Director and CEO of PPBL has tendered his resignation on account of personal reasons and to explore better career prospects," it read.

Chawla was appointed the bank's MD and CEO in January 2023, after necessary regulatory approvals. Back then, he replaced Satish Kumar Gupta, who retired in October 2022.

With a career spanning over two decades, Chawla was known for his stints in HDFC Bank, RBL Bank Ltd., and Standard Chartered Bank.

The development comes after the Reserve Bank of India imposed stringent curbs on Paytm Payments Bank on Jan. 31, owing to supervisory and regulatory lapses. The bank was not allowed to accept further credits into its customer accounts and wallets after March 15.

NDTV Profit had previously reported that inadequate Know-Your-Customer procedures, which led to transactions worth crores of rupees, was one of the major reasons for the RBI to impose curbs on Paytm Payments Bank.

On Feb. 26, Paytm's founder and chief executive resigned from the bank's board. One97 Communications also withdrew its nominee, Bhavesh Gupta, from the bank's board as a director and board member.

One97 Communications then reconstituted a new board, with four new people joining.

Additionally, through an exchange filing on March 1, One97 Communications informed that it and Paytm Payments Bank agreed to discontinue various intercompany agreements. This was done to strengthen independent operations for the payments bank.