MAM
First for JAL – transpacific in-flight internet access
MUMBAI: Japan Airlines has expanded its in-flight Internet connection service to flights between Tokyo-New York: the world’s first service on a transpacific flight.
Provided by Connexion by Boeing Inc. (CBB) – a business unit of Boeing – the “JAL Inflight Internet Service”, which took off today, enables passengers to use their own wireless LAN compatible personal computers during flights.
Using VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology, the “JAL Inflight Internet Service” also enables passengers to access securely their company’s network, email and intranet site. Additionally, passengers can access free of charge JAL’s in-flight portal site which contains a selection of content such as company product and service information, says a company release.
Initially the service will be available on alternate days but towards the end of June it will be available daily. JAL’s Tokyo-New York route is popular with business travelers, who represent a high percentage of total passengers.
In 2003, JAL was the first Asian airline to reach an agreement with CBB to introduce in-flight Internet service and the airline introduced it on the Tokyo-London route on December 9, 2004. JAL will continue to expand this in-flight Internet connection service on Japan-Europe and Japan-North America routes, the release adds.
The in-flight internet service is catching up in Asia as well. All Nippon Airways started providing the service on flights between Tokyo and Shanghai in November. Plans are on the anvil to extend the service to its Tokyo-Los Angeles and Tokyo-New York routes. Singapore Airlines will kick off the service in mid-2005. Among Asian airline companies, Taiwan’s China Airlines, South Korea’s Asiana Airlines and Korean Air have signed deals with Boeing.
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.
