MAM
ITC’s Kurush Grant is new chairman of ISA
MUMBAI: ITC Limited executive director Kurush Grant has been elected as the chairman of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) at a meeting held on 11 September.
ISA is the only national body of advertisers and its members from across industries contribute to over two-thirds of India‘s national non-governmental advertisement spends.
The other office bearers of ISA are Bharat Bambawale (Bharti Airtel) is vice-chairman-north, N. Srikumar (IOCL) is vice chairman-west, Ajoy Chawla (Titan Industries) is vice chairman-south, Paulomi Dhawan (Landmarc Leisure) is honorary treasurer and Hemant Bakshi (HUL) is chairman of the media committee.
The other members of the executive council are — Bharat V. Patel (Yes Bank), Rajiv Dube (Aditya Birla), Narendra Ambwani (Agro Tech Foods), Chandramouli Venkatesan, (Cadbury India), Sameer Satpathy (Marico Limited), Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan (Nestle India), R. Ramakrishnan (Polycab Wires), Brahm Vasudeva (Hawkins Cookers), Kainaz Gazder (Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care), J. C. Chopra (Infogain India), Harish Bhat (Tata Global Beverages) and Anil Chugh (Wipro – Consumer Care and Lighting Division).
Grant said he looked forward to next year being more interesting. He hoped the formation of BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) and other initiatives would be taken forward as appropriate and saw continuous opportunities for working together in the executive council and with ISA members.
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.
