MAM
Rekha Murthy joins Rediff.com board as Independent Director
MUMBAI: Rediff.com India has drafted in heavyweight technology veteran Rekha Murthy as an independent director, bolstering its board as the AI-focused platform firm pushes into payments and enterprise software and keeps its IPO options open.
The appointment signals sharper intent at Rediff.com, which is repositioning itself from a legacy internet brand into a data and AI-led business with ambitions beyond content and advertising.
Murthy brings close to 35 years of global leadership experience across technology, enterprise software and consulting. She has held senior roles at IBM, PeopleSoft, digital equipment corporation, Wyse Technology, Korn Ferry International and Harvard business publishing, spanning markets in India, Asia Pacific and the US.
She sits on the boards of multiple international companies. She is also the founder of far vision consulting and works closely with global start-ups as an investor, advisor and mentor.
At Rediff.com, Murthy is expected to play a central role in shaping AI-led strategy, tightening governance and preparing the company for life in the public markets, should it pull the trigger on a listing.
An alumna of Harvard business school and IIM Bangalore, with an engineering degree from Bangalore university and a diploma from NYU, Murthy has built and scaled businesses across sales, product, strategy and P&L leadership. She has also helped launch three start-ups, adding entrepreneurial bite to boardroom gravitas.
As Rediff.com plots its next chapter, the message is unmistakable. This is not a nostalgia play. With murthy on the board, the company is signalling it wants to think bigger, move faster and finally act its age in the AI era.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
