No ED Investigation Either Against Company Or CEO, Says Paytm

The Enforcement Directorate is neither investigating One97 Communications, owner of Paytm brand, nor its Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma for money laundering, the company said on Sunday.

The ED had visited premises of the company and some other fintech firms like Razorpay in September 2022 for money laundering investigations against some of the merchants that were using their platforms.

"Neither the Company nor its founder and CEO are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate regarding inter alia money laundering. In the past, certain merchants/users on our platforms have been subject to enquiries and on those occasions, we have always cooperated with the authorities," Paytm said in a regulatory filing.

The company said it has cooperated with the agencies during any investigations by the authorities on any set of merchants or users in the past.

"We would like to set the record straight and deny any involvement in anti-money laundering activities. We have and continue to abide by Indian laws and take regulatory orders with utmost seriousness," the filing said.

The company is mired into controversy following a recent RBI order that barred Paytm Payments Bank Ltd to not take any further deposits or conduct credit transactions or carry out top-ups on any customers accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, cards for paying road tolls after February 29.

Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) is an associate of One97 Communications Limited (OCL), which holds 49 per cent of the paid-up share capital (directly and through its subsidiary) of PPBL. Sharma has a 51 per cent stake in the bank.