MAM
Paytm launches new ad campaign
Mumbai: One97 Communications Ltd (OCL) which owns the brand Paytm, India’s leading payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR and mobile payments, has launched a new print advertising campaign to reassure users and merchants that its QR, Soundbox and card machine will continue to work ‘today, tomorrow, and always’.
Paytm reiterated that its innovative payment devices are here to stay. The company also thanked its digital India partners, who helped the company in countering any rumours. The ad also asked readers and its user base to refer to numbers 21 and 22 of FAQs released by the central bank that answer questions that users or merchants may have about the Paytm QR code, Soundbox and Card Machines.
From the FAQs, point no 21:
Q: I am a merchant and I accept payments using a Paytm QR code, Paytm soundbox or Paytm POS terminal, linked to another bank account (not with Paytm Payments Bank). Can I continue to use this setup even after March 15, 2024?
Yes. If your receipt and transfer of funds is linked to any bank account other than Paytm Payments Bank, you can continue to use this arrangement even after March 15, 2024.
Paytm Spokesperson said, “As pioneers of QR code, soundbox and mobile payments in India, we have always been at the forefront of the Digital revolution in India. With this ‘India’s every Paytm QR & Soundbox will keep working Today, Tomorrow, Always’ campaign, we aim to dispel any rumours, and confirm that our innovative devices will continue to empower merchant partners with seamless payments.”
The company was the first to launch QR code-based payments in India. It also pioneered audio-based confirmations with the Paytm Soundbox, which revolutionised in-store payments in the country. Paytm’s payment devices have seen widespread adoption by merchants, enabling small and medium businesses with robust growth.
MAM
AI could unlock billions for India’s $30 billion media industry, says JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar
JioStar vice-chairman urges industry to seize once-in-a-generation AI moment to turn India into the world’s creative capital
DELHI: India’s media industry stands at a historic inflection point. Artificial intelligence, long discussed as a technological disruptor, could now become the lever that propels the country from a domestic content giant to a global creative powerhouse.
Delivering the keynote at the IndiaAI Impact Summit, Uday Shankar argued that AI offers India a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead, not follow, in global media and entertainment.
Shankar credited the prime minister’s vision for centring India’s growth agenda around AI and described the summit as overdue . Drawing on three decades in media, he traced the industry’s transformation from the arrival of the first newsroom computers to the launch of India’s earliest digital platforms, each wave of technology reshaping speed, scale and audience engagement.
The numbers tell a story of staggering growth. In just 25 years, India’s media and entertainment sector has expanded from a few billion dollars to become the world’s fifth-largest market, contributing more than $30bn to the economy. Television households have jumped from about 70m to over 210m, with more than 800m video consumers today.
Yet global influence remains elusive. While South Korea exported Squid Game and Parasite to worldwide acclaim, and Puerto Rico produced the most-streamed artist on the planet, India has struggled to consistently break through beyond its domestic and diaspora audiences .
The constraints are structural. Hollywood studio productions command budgets of $65m to $100m, with tentpoles running as high as $300m. The average Indian film operates on $3m to $5m . A marquee US television episode can cost $20m to $30m; an Indian serial is typically produced for Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per episode, roughly $10,000. The capital gap, Shankar argued, has narrowed ambition and limited global competitiveness.
AI, he said, changes the equation by rewiring the three pillars of the industry: content, consumer and commerce.
On content, AI-powered production is collapsing infrastructure costs and accelerating timelines. At JioStar, the company recently produced Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh, a 100-episode live-action series delivered three to five times faster than a traditional production pipeline. The implication is stark. The remaining constraint is no longer capital, but imagination.
On consumers, AI enables conversational discovery, interactive storytelling and regionalisation that goes beyond simple dubbing to reflect India’s linguistic texture. On commerce, it unlocks granular segmentation and dynamic pricing, moving beyond the blunt instruments of subscription and advertising that have defined the industry for a century.
The prize is vast. The global media market, currently worth nearly $3trn, is projected to reach $3.5trn by 2029. India’s share remains under 2 per cent. Even a shift to 5 per cent would generate tens of billions of dollars in additional value.
But Shankar cautioned that opportunity does not guarantee outcome. He called for three commitments: self-disruption before external disruption, aggressive skilling to create AI-native creative hybrids, and policy frameworks that accelerate rather than constrain innovation.
Hollywood’s defensive posture towards AI, he suggested, offers India a rare window to design the business models and regulatory frameworks that could set global precedents. The shift in advantage, he argued, favours nations with deep cultural reservoirs and massive audiences.
The question is no longer whether India can lead in the AI age of media, he concluded, but whether it will move fast enough to claim that position.
The stories were always here. Now the technology has caught up.
