MAM
Khushi Advertising bags ad films screening rights of Fun Cinemas for two years
MUMBAI: Khushi Advertising has bagged the exclusive rights of screening ad films across the Fun Cinemas multiplex chain for two years.
The rights have been given for all existing and upcoming Fun Cinemas Multiplex screens across India for two years.
Khushi Advertising director Pranay Shah said, “Khushi advertising is growing aggressively and as part of our continuing expansion, the new association with Fun Cinemas will further improve our business growth. Khushi advertising has been selling multiplex onscreen space pan India since last 15 years and has successfully emerged as the best media buying agency in the cinema medium.
Khushi Advertising‘s strategy this year will be to control a minimum of 650 screens across various cinemas.
Said Shah, “Our pan India presence with exclusive rights and tie-ups with some of the biggest names and chains of malls, Department stores and multiplexes makes us a single point source for advertiser’s requirements in this exciting new dimension of advertising.”
Fun Cinemas is currently present in over 19 cities across India, including Mumbai, Delhi (4 properties), Bangalore, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Gwalior, Goa, Ambala Panipat, Guwahati, Hissar, Amritsar, Kota, etc. comprising 77 screens nationally. It is also present in tier I, tier II and tier III cities with 200+ single screens (Digital Cinemas).
Fun Cinemas plans to add 32 screens in multiplex format, 100 in digital format and 25 screens in refurbishment format to its tally in 2013.
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.
