Paytm's UPI market share drops to 9%, lowest in four years; who tops the list?

Paytm, whose banking arm came under stringent restrictions, has faced a decline in its share in the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) market, as per the data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company holds a 9% market share, the lowest in four years, the data showed.

This marked a second consecutive month of decline in Paytm’s market share, which dropped to 11% in February. The embattled payments services provider processed a total of 1.2 billion transactions in March, which is lower as compared to 1.3 billion transactions in February and 1.4 billion transactions in January.

The reduction in Paytm’s market shares comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) from accepting fresh deposits. The regulatory action, imposed from March 15 onwards, was a result of “non-compliance of norms”, the banking sector regulator had stated.

In the aftermath of the RBI action, Patym was granted a third-party app licence by the NPCI, and the company shifted its nodal account to Axis Bank. It also relies on Yes Bank, State Bank of India and HDFC Bank for settlement of payments.

Who leads the UPI market?

As per the NPCI data, PhonePe continues to top the list of UPI apps in India, with a total market share of 48%. The company processed 6.5 billion transactions in March, higher as compared to 6 billion in February and 5.7 billion in January.

GooglePay held a market share of 37%, with the total transactions that it processed in the month of March adding up to 5 billion. This is higher as against 4.7 billion transactions in February and 4.4 billion in January.

While Paytm stands third with a market share of 9% and monthly transactions of 1.2 billion, Cred is a distant fourth with a total of 132 million transactions in March.

Paytm’s dwindling market share comes at a time when the regulators are looking towards capping the maximum market share of a single UPI player at 30%. The regulatory mandate is required to be achieved by the end of this year.

Paytm Payments Bank CEO steps down

Amid the crisis that PPBL is facing, the merchant bank’s chief executive officer and managing director Surinder Chawla has decided to step down. He has submitted his resignation on “account of personal reasons and to explore better career prospects”, said One97 Communications Ltd, the parent entity of Paytm, in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, April 9.

Chawla will be relieved from the company on June 26, 2024, the filing added. His exit comes few weeks after Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma stepped down as the non-executive chairman and board member of PPBL.

The announcement related to Chawla’s resignation was made following the market hours. At the end of trading hours, the stock was valued at Rs 404.50 apiece on the NSE, down 1.87% from the previous day’s close.