MAM
Test before trust as Aludecor puts ACP claims under the scanner
MUMBAI: When buildings speak, weak materials whisper and Aludecor wants contractors to listen before it’s too late. India’s ACP major Aludecor has rolled out a new television and digital campaign that swaps glossy promises for gritty site realities. Built around everyday construction scenarios, the films spotlight common material failures, colour fading, fire safety gaps and panel delamination and the long-term damage they can cause to safety, reputations and livelihoods.
Set on active construction sites, the campaign features Amit Sial as a seasoned contractor quietly putting his assistant through a reality check. The message is blunt and memorable: “Iss liye test nahi toh… trust nahi.” The films underline how cost-led choices and unchecked claims often come back to haunt those on site.
At the core of the campaign is Aludecor’s emphasis on proof over promises. Its ACPs undergo 205 mandatory quality and performance tests, covering durability, fire resistance and structural reliability in real-world conditions. The films translate these lab processes into outcomes that matter on site colours that don’t fade, fire-retardant and fire-resistant panels that limit flame spread, and sheets that hold their form over time.
Going beyond advertising, Aludecor has thrown open its fully equipped in-house R&D centre complete with NABL-accredited fire-retardant testing facilities to the wider ACP industry, free of cost. Samples are to be lifted directly from materials supplied at site, ensuring what’s tested is exactly what’s installed.
To protect credibility, all tests will be conducted in a brand-blind and anonymised manner. Neither the testing team nor the facility will know the brand, customer or project involved. The company describes this as the Indian ACP industry’s largest voluntary open testing initiative positioning it as a trust movement rather than a certification drive.
Aludecor is calling on fabricators, architects and builders to question claims, demand evidence and treat testing as a shared responsibility, one that can prevent accidents, avoid financial loss and protect professional credibility.
Commenting on the initiative, Aludecor founder and CMD Ashok Kumar Bhaiya said the highest risk of material failure is borne by fabricators themselves. The goal, he said, is to arm them with facts and the confidence to insist on transparent testing because when materials are tested honestly, trust follows, and lives are safer for it.
The campaign is being rolled out across television and digital platforms, supported by billboards and on-ground outreach, reinforcing a simple message the industry cannot ignore: in construction, trust is built only after the test.
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.
