RBI Cancels PPI License Of Vodafone M-Pesa
RBI Cancels PPI License Of Vodafone M-Pesa After Its Decision To Voluntarily Wind Down The Business.
The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the license of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd, a digital payments wallet, after the company voluntarily surrendered its certificate of authorisation.
In a statement on Tuesday, RBI said the company can no longer transact the business of issuance and operation of prepaid payments instrument after it cancelled its certificate of authorisation on Sept. 30, 2019.
“However, customers or merchants having a valid claim on the company as a payment system operator, can approach the company for settlement of their claims within three years from the date of cancellation, by Sept. 30, 2022,” it said.
Vodafone launched M-Pesa in India in 2013. As of January 5, 2017, the company’s website said that over 8.4 million people were using the M-Pesa mobile application.
The decision by Vodafone-Idea to wind down the M-Pesa venture took shape in July last year after Aditya Birla Payments Bank Ltd decided to shut down operations.
“The continuing losses, absence of long-term business case and holistic evaluation of the situation led to the decision of winding up of these businesses. Also, this was in line with our strategy of focusing on our core businesses and doing the rest of value creation through partnerships,” said Balesh Sharma, chief executive officer, Vodafone Idea during an earnings call in July last year.
The decision to discontinue the payments bank and M-Pesa entities resulted in impairment charges of around Rs 210 crore for the telecom player.