Brands
LeEco stores in two months, targets 500 stores over one year
BENGALURU: Chinese technology player LeEco which has had a number of launches of smartphones since it ventured into India in late January this year plans to have about 500 brick and mortar stores in India once it receives FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board). Excerpts of a two minute interaction with LeEco COO of Smart Electronics –India Atul Jain on the side lines of a press conference for the launch of LeEco’s Le 2, Le Max2 smartphones and Le Mall in New Delhi yesterday:
When is LeEco likely to launch brick and mortar stores?
We are looking at FIPB approvals to come. As soon as we get the approvals from the government, we’ll start. It’s been two months since we have applied, normally the approval process takes around 3 to 4 months, so in a month or two we should get the approvals after which we’ll need some setup time.
How many stores are you looking at in the first phase?
We are looking at about 500 stores including franchise stores over the next one year from the date of our first store. Just to give you an update, we have started our brick and mortar distribution which is selling through brick and mortar stores yesterday. So now our Le 1s is available in brick and mortar, mom and pops stores, independent stores, multi-brand stores, besides online.
Do you have the supply chain to these outlets in place?
Yes, we have our supply chain in place for that.
What about your OTT platform? How long do you plan to continue giving it along with the cost of a phone, given that most cell phones now have a usage life of a year or less? Are you going to continue offering the Rs 4,999 Supertainment package included in the cost of the phone?
As of now, that’s what we are announcing. Even for the two new phones that we have launched today – Le 2 and Le Max2, the Supertainment package for a year is included in the cost of the phone. Eventually in the long term, there will be a payment mechanism. It will be on a monthly basis
What about LeEco’s own production facilities in India?
That’s also coming up. It’s difficult to say exactly when. It’s likely to happen in the next six months or so.
Do you plan to bring the four brands on your OTT platform under a single brand? Do you plan to offer these options separately?
We might. As of now we will offer the subscribers everything. Maybe eventually we will offer subscribers’ a choice. As of now we are just trying to get our content to move.
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.
