MAM
Dhingana launches an ad platform
MUMBAI: Dhingana, a social music streaming service provider, is launching an advertising platform that aims to help brands reach the Indian population around the world.
The company has got Facebook’s product director of advertising and the creator of Google’s AdSense Gokul Rajaram on its advisory board.
Dhingana CEO Snehal Shinde said, “Globally, over 11 million Indian music fans listen to their favourite music on Dhingana. We believe that this is a great motivation for brands looking at innovative avenues to reach out to them. This led us to develop a highly intuitive advertising platform.”
Dhingana COO Swapnil Shinde added, “We’re thrilled to have Gokul on board. He has extensive experience in creating user-friendly and highly profitable experiences for social and mobile platforms. His experience will be invaluable as we expand the service to reach more users.”
“The streaming market in India is growing at an unprecedented rate, offering myriad opportunities to consumers and brands. With more than 7 million active users on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia devices, Dhingana has also been quick in tapping the huge impact that mobile is making in India,” Rajaram said.
Prior to joining Facebook, Rajaram had spent around five years at Google’s Adsense as the product management director. He had also ran a startup, Chai Labs, that was later bought out by Facebook
Dhingana is offering a number of ad formats and aims to help target ads based on factors like music genre, platform, geo-location, and audience demographics.
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.
