Why Paytm shares hit 5% upper circuit today?

Paytm shares hit upper circuit today: Shares of Paytm were locked in their upper circuit on Friday after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) gave the green light to One97 Communications Limited (OCL), the parent company of Paytm, to become a third-party UPI application.

The stock opened at ₹370.70, reflecting a gain of 5% to hit upper circuit. On Thursday, Paytm shares closed at ₹353.05 per unit.

In a statement, NPCI said that OCL has been granted a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) under the multi-bank model. HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, and YES Bank are the payment system provider (PSP) banks.

With this new licence, the Paytm app will continue to support payments through UPI, even after Paytm Payments Bank shuts down on March 15 due to non-compliance with regulatory norms.

Yes Bank will be acting as merchant acquiring Bank for existing and new UPI merchants for the handle '@Paytm'. Also read: Paytm Payments Bank: What will work and what not after March 15 RBI deadline

"This will enable existing users and merchants to continue to do UPI transactions and AutoPay mandates in a seamless and uninterrupted manner. OCL has been advised to complete the migration for all existing handles and mandates, wherever required, to new PSP banks at the earliest," the NPCI, the umbrella body for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India, said.

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had advised NPCI to examine OCI's request for a third party for continued UPI operation of the Paytm app. Also read: NHAI asks Paytm FASTag users to switch to other platforms by March 15

According to data on the NPCI website, Paytm processed 1.41 billion monthly transactions worth ₹1.65 trillion in February. In January, the app had processed 1.57 billion transactions worth ₹1.93 trillion.

Paytm is India's third-largest UPI application after PhonePe and Google Pay.