RBI grants Paytm Payments Services approval for offline and cross-border payments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has authorised Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), a subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd, to operate as a payment aggregator for physical (offline) payments and cross-border transactions, the company said on Thursday.

The latest approval expands PPSL’s regulatory clearance beyond online payments. The RBI had granted authorisation for online payment aggregation to the company last month.

In a regulatory filing, Paytm said the RBI approved PPSL on December 17, 2025, to facilitate offline payments as well as inward and outward cross-border transactions under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. With this, PPSL now holds payment aggregator licences covering online, offline and cross-border use cases, allowing it to offer end-to-end payment aggregation services to merchants.

PPSL had first applied for a payment aggregator licence in November 2020 under the RBI’s guidelines on the regulation of payment aggregators and payment gateways. However, in November 2022, the central bank rejected the application and asked the company to reapply to ensure compliance with Press Note 3 of the foreign direct investment (FDI) rules.

Following the RBI’s direction, PPSL submitted an application to the Government of India on December 14, 2022, seeking approval for past downstream investment from One97 Communications Ltd to align with the requirements of Press Note 3.

(Source: PTI)