Paytm Wallet Clears First RBI Hurdle, Audit Due by May 2027
The Paytm wallet is a step closer after the RBI’s first-stage approval on November 13. PPSL must file a security audit by May 13, 2027, or lose it.
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Quick Take
- The Paytm wallet cleared its first regulatory stage on 13 November 2026, after 1,017 days off the market.
- PPSL must send a system and cybersecurity audit report to the RBI by 13 May 2027, or the approval dies.
- The same subsidiary took 106 days to turn its last first-stage approval into a full licence.
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The Reserve Bank of India has cleared Noida-based Paytm to build a new wallet, 1,017 days after its order froze the old one.
That clearance is only the first stage. Its stock exchange filing on Friday names the subsidiary as Paytm Payments Services Ltd, or PPSL. PPSL cannot issue a single wallet without a final certificate from the RBI.
The RBI letter is dated 13 November 2026. PPSL applied for the licence on 31 December 2025. The wait ran to 317 days.
What the RBI Actually Approved, and What It Did Not
The approval lets PPSL set up and run a payment system for prepaid payment instruments in India. A prepaid payment instrument is any product you load money into before you spend it. A wallet is the common one.
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The RBI’s Department of Payment and Settlement Systems issued the letter under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. PPSL must follow the central bank’s prepaid payment instrument rules of 27 August 2021.
Paytm started the wallet in 2014 and moved it to Paytm Payments Bank in 2017. On 31 January 2024 the RBI barred that bank from taking fresh deposits and wallet top-ups. The curbs took effect on 15 March 2024.
Paytm Payments Bank lost its licence on 24 April 2026 under Section 22(4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The Reserve Bank of India said Delhi High Court orders in July sent the bank into winding up.
Girikumar M Nair, a former chief general manager at State Bank of India, now runs it as liquidator. The new wallet has no link to that bank. PPSL is a separate, wholly owned subsidiary.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive of One 97 Communications, made a promise about the wallet nine months ago.
“I would rather say, as a promise, we will bring the Wallet back home”
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive, One 97 Communications. From the December quarter earnings call, February 2026.
The Paytm Wallet Now Runs on a Six-Month Clock
PPSL has six months from 13 November 2026 to finish a system audit and a cybersecurity audit. That sets the deadline at 13 May 2027. Miss it and the approval lapses on its own.
The audit cannot be done in house. A CERT-In empanelled auditor must run it, or a certified information systems auditor. The work must match the RBI’s cyber resilience rules for non-bank payment operators, issued on 5 November 2026.
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PPSL must also follow the RBI’s payment data storage rule of 6 April 2018. Any change in who owns the subsidiary needs the central bank’s permission first.
A lapse would be costly. If PPSL misses the date, the RBI will not consider a final licence at all. The six-month window started the day the letter was signed.
Paytm’s Own Licence History Points to Late 2027
PPSL has been through this exact process once before. The RBI gave it first-stage approval as an online payment aggregator on 12 August 2025. The full certificate came on 26 November 2025, 106 days later.
The offline and cross-border payment aggregator approval came on 17 December 2025, three weeks after the online one. PPSL now holds payment aggregator rights across online, offline and cross-border payments.
| Licence | First-stage approval | Full licence | Days taken |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online payment aggregator | 12 August 2025 | 26 November 2025 | 106 |
| Offline and cross-border payment aggregator | Not applicable | 17 December 2025 | Not applicable |
| Prepaid payment instruments (wallet) | 13 November 2026 | Pending | Audit due 13 May 2027 |
Put the two together and the maths is plain. If PPSL uses its full six months and the RBI then takes another 106 days, the final licence lands near the end of August 2027.
Paytm could move faster than that. No return date has been announced.
Why the Wallet Matters to Paytm’s Numbers
Paytm had 8.5 crore monthly transacting users in the September quarter, up by one crore in a year. A wallet gives that base a payment option Paytm owns end to end. UPI carries no merchant fee.
The September quarter numbers show why the timing helps. Revenue from operations rose 28% to Rs 2,648 Cr from Rs 2,061 Cr a year earlier. Net profit was Rs 225 Cr against Rs 21 Cr.
That profit jump needs a caveat. Strip out one-off items and profit moved from Rs 211 Cr to Rs 229 Cr, a rise of 9%. The tenfold figure comes mostly from a Rs 190 Cr exceptional charge a year earlier.
The stock has followed the recovery. One 97 Communications hit a record Rs 1,958.80 on the BSE on Friday, up 1.85%, and closed at Rs 1,945. The shares are 6.3 times their May 2024 low of Rs 310.
One number spoils the run. The share price is still about 9% below the Rs 2,150 issue price from the November 2021 listing.
What this means for you
If you run a merchant business on Paytm rails or compete in prepaid wallets, your 2027 product plan now has a fixed date. Watch 13 May 2027, because PPSL must file its audit report by then or lose the approval.
StartupFeed Insight
Most coverage called this a wallet comeback. The dates say otherwise. PPSL took 106 days to turn its payment aggregator approval into a full licence. The audit alone can run to 13 May 2027. Add the same 106 days and a final certificate arrives near the end of August 2027, not this financial year. Rival wallet issuers, MobiKwik and Amazon Pay among them, have roughly three quarters of clear air left. Our call: Paytm files its audit report well before the deadline, and the wallet is back in the app in time for Diwali 2027.
By Saraswati Chaubey, Writer
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