Leading telecom operator Airtel has been given the seal of approval from the Reserve Bank of India in order to register new customers for its Airtel Payments Bank. According to a spokesperson of Airtel, the company can now permit users to enrol themselves to use the Payments Bank after the blessing from RBI, which follows the licensing from UIDAI in order to make use of Aadhar card-based KYC facilities.
Airtel released a statement saying “Airtel Payments Bank has received requisite approvals from The Reserve Bank of India to start on-boarding new customers. Airtel Payments Bank has also been permitted by the UIDAI to resume the on-boarding of customers using Aaadhaar based e-KYC. We thank the authorities for the approvals. We remain committed to the Government’s vision of financial inclusion and banking for all”.
The telecom operator’s customer registrations came to a standstill when bank regulator RBI probed into documents relating to the opening of user accounts in the Airtel Payments Bank. It was also reported that Airtel was enrolling subscribers onto the Payments Bank without one’s consent.
This wasn’t the only red flag Airtel has been issued in the recent times as bank regulator imposed a Rs 5 crore penalty on the Payments Bank for violating operating guidelines and Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. Airtel was also barred from using e-KYC (e-verification) by Aadhaar’s governing body UIDAI, until now.
While the issue seems to have been solved for now, Airtel finds itself in a tough spot as it trust among existing customers continues to fall apart, which adds to the wounds caused due to the inability to add newer users.