MAM
Uplinking clearance for NDTV business news channel
MUMBAI: The Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV Ltd has finally got permission from the government to uplink its proposed business channel from India.
A government source confirmed the move, saying the green signal was given earlier this month. However, the source refused to provide any further details on whether NDTV has finalised a name for its business channel. According to industry sources, is likely to be headed by NDTV business editor Shivnath Thukral or Ashu Dutt who has had stints at CNBC-TV 18.
If the city-based broadcasting industry sources are to be beleived, the yet-to-be-named business channel from the NDTV stable is also likely to be formally commissioned some time next month.
Though NDTV had mentioned that it is targeting the end of 2004 for the launch of a business channel, indiantelevision.com had reported last month that the channel’s launch had got deferred till the first quarter of 2005. And professionals for the NDTV business channel are still being inducted.
After the uplink permission from the information and broadcasting ministry, NDTV will have to get several other clearances from various agencies, including the department of telecommunications.
It is, however, not clear whether the proposed business channel would be beamed via an Insat or a foreign satellite. The two existing news channels, NDTV 24×7 and NDTV India, are on PAS-10 satellite.
Despite the delay, NDTV has been making good use of time available by airing primarily business-related programming and news on NDTV 24×7 for the last several months, which have got them good ratings too vis-à-vis competition.
The NDTV board had approved launch of a separate business news channel in May. The company had made an application to the information and broadcasting ministry for uplinking permission for the same in September.
Information available with indiantelevision.com indicates that NDTV business channel’s differentiating pitch will be that it would cover a far wider canvas than the focus on stock markets that CNBC-TV18 is still perceived as having.
The fight for the business news channel has begun, it seems. The Raghav Bahl-promoted Television Eighteen Ltd (TV-18) is pressing ahead to meet a new deadline for launching a Hindi business news channel by next month, while Zee Business, was launched on 30 November.
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.
