Financial Intelligence Unit imposes penalty of Rs 5.49 cr on Paytm Payments for violating money laundering norms

New Delhi [India], March 1 : Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5,49,00,000 on Paytm Payments Bank Ltd with reference to violations of its obligations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
FIU-IND initiated a review of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. on receipt of specific information from law enforcement agencies in respect of a few entities and their network of businesses engaged in a number of illegal acts, including organising and facilitating online gambling.
Further, the money generated from these illegal operations, i.e. proceeds of crime were routed and channelled through bank accounts maintained by these entities with the Paytm Payments Bank Ltd.
"In furtherance of the above and upon scrutiny of the documents on record, the FIU IND issued a compliance show cause notice to the bank for its violations of Rules 7(3) and 2(1)(g), PML Rules, violation of Rule 8(2) read with Rule 3(1)(D) and Rule 2(1)(g), violation of Rule 9(12), PML Rules, and violation of Rule 9(14) in terms of AML / CFT / KYC safeguards in respect of payout services; and AML, CFT and KYC in respect of beneficiary accounts," the ministry added.
After considering the written and oral submissions of the Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, the Director of the FIU-IND, based on the voluminous material available on record, found that the charges against Paytm were substantiated.
"Consequently, on March 1, in exercise of his powers under Section 13, PMLA, it was found to be appropriate to impose a penalty of Rs 5,49,00,000," it added.