MAM
Omnicom’s Amol Dighe joins Amagi as business head
MUMBAI: Amagi Media Labs, a global media technology and leading ad-tech company in India, has appointed Amol Dighe as the business head.
A seasoned media professional, Dighe has worked on all sides of the value chain – client, agency and media owner. His expertise runs across buying, planning, negotiation and strategy; developing business systems with deep strength in analytical, organisational and managerial experience. His mandate with Amagi spans across channel strategy and media buying along with growing and adding new revenue streams targeted at both national and regional advertisers.
Commenting on the appointment, Amagi Media Labs co-Baskar Subramanian said, “Amagi is geared up for the next level of growth. We have set ourselves a clear goal to expand our channel footprint for providing geo-targeted advertising solutions, scale Amagi MIX e-commerce platform for media planning and buying and create innovative ways to add media efficiencies for large advertisers by ad versioning. Amol is a terrific addition to our management team and I am confident that with his expertise we will be able to grow profitably and build a robust business foundation for future.”
Prior to joining Amagi, Amol Dighe was the Head of investment for Omnicom Media Group Holdings (OMD) India and led the strategic insight and analysis over the OMD and PHD investment portfolio. Dighe has worked in Jakarta in a leadership role with Mindshare. He has also worked with Unilever in a regional buying and operations role for the Asia Pacific Region. He has also worked with Star TV as vice president – sales strategy, and Group M India.
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.
