MAM
Havas Worldwide India (creative) bolsters its senior leadership team
Mumbai: Havas Worldwide India (creative) has added key profiles to its strategy and account management teams with senior appointments. Arthi Basak has joined as EVP & planning head – West. Esha Datta and Sougata Kundu have been roped in as vice president, client servicing. While Arthi and Esha will be part of the Havas Mumbai office, Sougata will work out of Havas Gurgaon, the company said in a statement.
Commenting on the appointments, Havas Worldwide India (creative) managing director Manas Lahiri said, “Havas Worldwide is currently at a very interesting growth stage with a client roster of well-established traditional as well as many new-age brands. Marketers are now increasingly seeking our expertise in creating cutting-edge, innovative solutions that are strategic, tactical, and out-of-the-box. With Arthi, Esha and Sougata on board, we will be able to further strengthen our client partnerships.”
Basak is a strategic brand expert with 20 years of experience delivering high-impact marketing and communication solutions. She has conceived and created consumer-centric creative assets and campaigns with integrated brand solutions & omnichannel rollout for brands including Mahindra XUV, Nivea, Oreo, Blue Star, Taneira, Whisper, Pantene, and Head & Shoulders.
Datta is an advertising professional with over 14 years of experience across categories like electronics, retail, FMCG beauty and non-beauty to name a few. Some of the biggest brands she has managed over this period are GSK, Dell, P&G, Wipro, Ferrero India, ITC, Sony, and Panasonic.
In a career spanning over 16 years, Sougata has managed a diverse set of clients across FMCG, telecom, automobiles, food retail, footwear, aviation, DTH, liquor, BFSI, sports & entertainment, tourism & HA. Some of the most prominent brands he has worked on include Airtel, Dominos, Maruti and Hero Honda.
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.
