Zomato to surrender RBI licence to operate as online payment aggregator

Food tech major Zomato on Monday said its subsidiary Zomato Payment Pvt Ltd (ZPPL) has decided to voluntarily surrender the certificate of authorisation it obtained from the Reserve Bank to operate as an online payment aggregator.

"At Zomato, we do not see ourselves having a significant competitive advantage against the incumbents in the payments space and hence we don't foresee a business in payments space as commercially viable for us, at this stage.

"While we were conscious of these developments as they unfolded, the real impact was more apparent as we got closer to putting in place the structure to commence the operations," Zomato said in a regulatory filing.

The development comes months after the company received the licence from the central bank to operate as an online payment aggregator, with effect from January 24, 2024.

Zomato said the Board of Directors of ZPPL has also decided to withdraw the application dated November 11, 2021 submitted with the RBI to operate as the issuer of pre-paid payment instruments.

Zomato announced the incorporation of ZPPL in 2021 as its wholly owned subsidiary to carry out the business as a payment aggregator and an issuer of prepaid payment instruments.

In the regulatory filing, the company further stated that thanks to the RBI's efforts, the payments landscape in India has evolved meaningfully over the past couple of years since the time it applied for these licenses.

"This has over time, therefore, resulted in a seamless payment experience for customers," said Zomato.

The company believes that there is no material impact on the revenue/operations of the company on account of such voluntary surrender and withdrawal, hence this disclosure is being made voluntarily, it added.

Zomato declared the results for the quarter and financial year ended March on Monday.