MAM
Panasonic allots Rs 450 crore for ATL, BTL this fiscal
BENGALURU: Panasonic India has allotted Rs 200 crore towards ATL activities (same as last fiscal – April 2012 to March 2013), and Rs 250-260 crore towards BTL (last fiscal Rs 200 crore) towards BTL activities revealed Panasonic India managing director Manish Sharma to indiantelevision.com in Bengaluru yesterday.
Panasonic recently entered a new segment in India-mobile smartphones with the launch of one model – P51. By the end of this month, the company plans to launch another three smartphone models and will kick start a Rs 23 crore multimedia campaign over two months from the first week of August.
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With the festive season approaching, Panasonic also rolled out its new line-up of DT/ET Series as a part of its VIERA TV range yesterday.
Three agencies handle its creative work – Dentsu, Mudra and Percept, while Allied handles it media buying.
Following the success of Bollywood celebrities, Panasonic signed on Ranbir Kapoor as brand ambassador for its Viera TV brand; Katrina Kaif as the face of its home appliances range, Jacqueline Fernandes for its beauty products and Lumix Camera and Dia Mirza to be face of Eco Ideas which form a part of the company‘s initiatives to conserve the environment. It has also signed on Indian golf player Anirban Lahiri as brand ambassador for its operations in India.
With the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Panasonic promotes the national football team and arranges for interactions of the team members with youth to encourage the sport among youngsters. For the fourth consecutive year, it was also the official electronic partner for the Delhi Daredevils team for IPL during the recently concluded sixth season of the tournament.
Sharma also revealed the strategic outlook for the company which encompassed the areas which the company will be focusing on going forward. India has been identified as the centerpiece of future by the global headquarters. While the Indian arm will continue driving growth through its B2C business there will be a renewed focus on the B2B and B2G business. The key strategy for fueling even more aggressive growth in India is: to accelerate new product developments; reform the business structure through local production and consumption; and pursue autonomous management. With a studied focus, strong plans and an investment of Rs 1,500 crore towards expansion in the next three years, Panasonic is aiming revenue of $ 3.66 billion by 2015.
Keeping in mind its focus product development the company has recently made a lot of additions to its existing range of products besides also entering new business segments like Smartphones. Panasonic will also be introducing new product ranges mainly in the energy solutions (products for creating, storing and saving energy), security and surveillance systems and solutions products and will also be looking at collaborating with Indian enterprises for the same.
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.
