The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Reserve Bank of India to file response on a plea challenging PayTM Post Paid wallet operation stating that it is illegal and unauthorized and in contravention of applicable laws.
The PIL was moved by economist Abhijit Mishra who claimed the operations of the Paytm Post Paid Wallet were illegal. The bench comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Brijesh Sethi issued a notice to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and PayTM Payments Banks Limited seeking their stand on the same and have been asked to file their response by September 3, 2019.
The petitioner claimed he was “very much concerned for the welfare of Indian Financial system. The Paytm Payments Bank by the means its unauthorized Paytm Post Paid has provided unmonitored and unauthorized access to the personal information such as AADHAR, PAN, Transaction etc. of the bank’s customer to the unauthorized third party, thereby clearly violating the Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and other relevant banking acts such as Payments and Settlements Act.”
“Through the means of this Public Interest Litigation, the petitioner wants to highlight the issues in the Paytm Payments Bank Limited’s unauthorised / illegal operation of Paytm Post Paid Wallets in defiance of Operating Guidelines for Payments and Guidelines for Licensing of Payments Banks as issued vide notification by the Banking Regulator viz- Reserve Bank of India.
The petitioner has prayed for directions to the Reserve Bank of India to take appropriate punitive actions against the Paytm Payments Bank Limited under the provisions of 47A of the Banking Regulation Act, to absolve all the customers who are in default of their debt of the credit payments to the Paytm Post Paid wallet, to transfer all the profits earned from the Paytm Post Paid Wallet operation to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for the welfare of the nation, to direct Reserve Bank of India to appoint / depute one of its senior officer on the board of the Paytm Payments Bank Limited for considerable period to overlook audit of operations and regulatory compliance of the Payments Bank.
Read the plea here.
—India Legal Bureau