Exclusive: RBI order on IT audit, says Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma; dismisses reports of data leak; aggrieved with share price erosion, says MD & CEO

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ordered an IT audit and there is no discussion or obligation on the financial audit of the company, Paytm Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)  Vijay Shekhar Sharma tells Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi in an exclusive conversation. (#NewsParView)

Sharma dismissed reports suggesting that the company shared data with any entity or individual outside the country. He said that this has never been the cases even when One 97 Communications Limited was not listed on the exchanges. 

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The MD & CEO said that the company has received a letter from the RBI where no queries related to data access have been raised. He added that there were no queries even from the Government of India.

Sharma said that the question of sharing the customer data with the investors has never arisen.

“Paytm Payment Banks data servers are located within India, and it supports data localization. The RBI directive is to temporarily halt onboarding of new customers, and not regarding any data leak to any foreign national or firms,” the company in its press statement on Monday.

#NewsParViews

विजय शेखर शर्मा EXCLUSIVE

कंपनी से किसी भी तरह का डाटा लीक नहीं हुआ, RBI ने फाइनेंशियल ऑडिट करने को नहीं कहा, सिर्फ IT ऑडिट करने का आदेश : विजय शेखर शर्मा, MD & CEO, #Paytm @AnilSinghvi_ @Paytm @PaytmBank @vijayshekhar pic.twitter.com/xeUHBSnwYW

— Zee Business (@ZeeBusiness) March 15, 2022

On losses incurred by investors since the listing of share of Paytm, Sharma said that he was himself aggrieved at the losses of the shareholders - be it retail or institutional investors - as a promoter and the founder of the company.

He said that his concern was also because his personal reputation was also at stake.

While there is no denying that the stock has not performed as per the expectations, the company's performance has been sound, Sharma said adding that the profitability of the company has bettered by leaps and the Paytm has been able to cut its losses. 

He assured the investors of a "solid" operational metrics.

He also said that the company also makes disclosures on its performance regularly.    

The Paytm shares have corrected around 70 per cent from its issue price of Rs 2150. The shares were listed at a discount at Rs 1950 per share. Since then, the movement has been down the hill. 

The company in its filing to exchanges has released Month-on-Month numbers where it declared highest ever monthly loan disbursals. The number of loan disbursed through Paytm witnessed 449 per cent jump on Year-on-Year (YoY) baisis, while value of loans disbursals went up by 366 per cent YoY, the statement said.

He also said that the company would break-even even before the estimates of most of the bullish brokerages and analyst expectations and their timeline.