Paytm gets final nod from RBI to operate as a payment aggregator

PPSL, a subsidiary of One 97 Communications, has received RBI's final authorisation to operate as a payment aggregator, enabling unrestricted merchant onboarding after earlier curbs were lifted

Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of One 97 Communications, received the final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a payment aggregator about three months after the company received the regulator’s in-principle approval.

 

The licence allows PPSL to onboard merchants, facilitating online transactions for them.

 

The approval also comes at a time when the company is focused on growing its payments business.

 

“... we would like to inform you that Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) on November 26, 2025 has granted Certificate of Authorisation (‘COA’) to Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of One 97 Communications Limited (‘the Company’), to operate as a Payment Aggregator under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007,” the company said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.

 

With the approval, Paytm will rival other payment aggregator firms such as Razorpay, Cashfree Payments and Infibeam’s CCAvenue.

 

The company received the in-principle approval in August this year. With that approval, the merchant onboarding restrictions were eased after more than two years, when they were imposed on the firm in November 2022.

 

The only business restriction that remains now is on its associate entity, Paytm Payments Bank.

 

PPSL had reapplied for a licence in September 2024 after the RBI rejected its application in November 2022 due to issues related to foreign investment norms.

 

The in-principle approval in August came just a week after Antfin, the Chinese investment arm of Alibaba, exited the firm completely.

 

How is Paytm performing financially?

 

One 97 Communications reported a net profit of Rs 21 crore for the second quarter of the financial year 2026 (Q2FY26). It was a sharp dip from the Rs 928 crore profit reported in the same quarter last year, which was boosted by an exceptional gain from the sale of its movie ticketing and events business to Zomato.

 

Sequentially, the net profit declined 83 per cent from Rs 123 crore.

 

Paytm earned Rs 2,061 crore in revenue from operations in Q2FY26, a 24.23 per cent increase from Rs 1,659 crore in Q2FY25.

 

Other income, which may include interest or dividend income, or any other non-core revenue, was recorded at Rs 222 crore in Q2FY26 as compared to Rs 175 crore in Q2FY25.

 

Sequentially, revenue from operations grew 7.5 per cent from Rs 1,918 crore in Q1FY26, while other income stood at Rs 241 crore.