MAM
Shubhradeep Guha named as India country manager for Sapientnitro
MUMBAI: SapientNitro, part of integrated marketing company Sapient, today named Shubhradeep Guha as its India country manager.
Guha will be involved in leading SapientNitro’s marketing services business in India and will report to Global marketing services lead Bob Van Beber.
He is also the global capability lead at SapientNitro and replaces Ramswaroop Gopalan, who moves on from the firm to pursue personal endeavours.
In his new role, Guha will focus on building capabilities across the marketing and digital space as well as engage with key global and Indian brands. Alongside his duties as country manager, Guha will retain his current responsibilities and continue to be a part of SapientNitro’s European and Asian leadership teams.
Sapient India managing director Rajdeep Endow said, “Clients in India are increasingly looking at business partners to provide best-fit solutions to create outstanding customer experiences. Shubhra with his deep capabilities and experience in communications and commerce across multiple channels is best positioned to help them with this.”
Guha said, “I firmly believe that in the current context of mobile web usage leapfrogging fixed-line, PC and TV penetration in India all (even digital) agencies have a shelf life, and I have been working closely with our clients and global teams to realise the model for a new breed of agency at SapientNitro.”
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.
