Indian Banks' Rush For Clients Set For Reckoning Post Paytm

The central bank may get tougher before governor Shaktikanta Das steps down this year

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For Indian regulators seeking to crack down on potential fraud in the financial sector, Paytm may just be the beginning.

India stunned investors last month by abruptly suspending most activities of the banking affiliate of Paytm, a once high-flying fintech star that had attracted backing from Warren Buffett and SoftBank Group Corp. While the Paytm case was an extreme example of lapses in customer verification - it allegedly used a single identity document to open thousands of accounts the crackdown signals growing impatience from authorities.

Hardly a day passes when a bank or fintech firm isn't fined for failing to properly vet its customers, ensnaring top lenders from State Bank of India to Citigroup Inc. Fed up with the persistent shortcomings, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to get even tougher before governor Shaktikanta Das steps down this year.

"RBI has enough tools and a penalty is just the beginning," said Prakash Agarwal, founder of Gefion Capital Advisors. He said the fines serve as a "symbolic warning for more dire measures to come, such as a sledgehammer action taken against Paytm bank."