MAM
VMLY&R India brings in Rajshekar Patil as executive creative director
Mumbai: Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R has brought Rajshekar Patil on board as executive creative director. He will report to VMLY&R India chief creative officer Mukund Olety.
In this role, Patil will oversee the creative capabilities of the agency, assist in campaign conceptualisation, and support the agency’s creative vision. As part of the leadership team, he will also champion a culture of creativity, inclusiveness, and innovation, said the agency.
Patil brings in 18 years of work experience with him as an award-winning integrated advertising professional working at the intersection of creativity and tech. His last assignment was with Publicis Worldwide India as ECD. At Publicis Mumbai, he was heading Skoda Motors, Citi, Zee5, and Times Group.
“I am delighted that Rajshekar is joining us. He is a passionate, razor-sharp, creative thinker with a portfolio that speaks to his desire for genuine impact through his work,” said VMLY&R India chief creative officer Mukund Olety. ” I welcome him wholeheartedly to the VMLY&R family and look forward to growing our creative reputation across the country.”
Patil is the co-founder of a kid-tech startup, built at a tech incubator in London, and Snap Counsellors, an award-winning teen helpline on Snapchat. He also helped launch Apple in India, contributing several pieces to the Grand Prix-winning Shot on the iPhone campaign.
A computer science graduate who landed accidentally in the creative department of Ogilvy and Mather and never left, Patil has been recognised with D&AD Impact, One Show, Cannes, Effies APAC, Spikes Tangrams, etc. His previous stints were at BBDO India, Media Arts Lab (Apple’s agency), BBH India, and Ogilvy & Mather.
“VMLY&R brings together a blend of creativity, technology, data and culture to create truly unique solutions for clients. Creativity here seeps into every facet of the agency and I look forward to working closely with Anil and Mukund to create some fantastic work,” said Patil on his new role.
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.
