MAM
Thinkstr elevates Ravi Raghavendra to NCD
Mumbai: Thinkstr, a Gurgaon-based independent agency, has elevated Ravi Raghavendra to the position of national creative director. He will shift to Bengaluru to kickstart the agency’s expansion.
Thinkstr’s founder Satbir Singh said, “Ravi has spearheaded the agency’s creative from day one and it was only a matter of time before he officially ran it. We’ve won some interesting new businesses and created some very popular campaigns where he has been at the core. We tossed a coin between Mumbai and Bengaluru for our next office and Ravi called correctly. Our client base includes traditional biggies as well as new-age startups, which matches the Bengaluru client profile to a T. We invite briefs from brands with national presence or ambitions.”
Raghavendra commands over 20 years of experience in the advertising and communication business, which includes 14 years as a creative leader across multinational agencies and a startup.
Speaking on his new role, Raghavendra shared, “We have been thinking of expanding our footprint beyond Gurugram for a while. Bangalore is an exciting market. It’s not only a hotbed of new-age businesses, it’s also the hotbed of new-age thinking and home to many established marketing success stories.”
“Speaking for myself, it’s also home for me. So it’s great to be back and assume added responsibilities from the home turf. I’m sure the Bangalore clients, who are as fine as the Bangalore weather, will be nice to us,” he added.
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.
