Paytm to generate free cash flow by year end: CEO Vijay Shekhar

One97 Communications, better known as Paytm, is a fintech startup that, according to a top corporate official on July 22nd, intends to produce free cash flow by the end of the year.

In an earnings call, Paytm CEO and co-founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma attributed the company's quarterly growth to an increase in its payments, financial services, and commerce businesses.

To become free cash flow positive by the end of the year, "we are on our committed guidelines," Sharma added.

The loss that Paytm incurred in the first quarter that concluded on June 30, 2023 was reduced to Rs 358.4 crore. The company lost Rs 645.4 crore during the same time last year. Compared to the June 2022 quarter, when it brought in Rs 1,679.6 crore, the Rs 2,341.6 crore it brought in during the reported quarter is a 39.4 percent rise.

In the April-June quarter of FY 2023-24, the business reported that its merchant payments volume (GMV) increased 37% year-over-year to Rs 4.05 lakh crore.

Sharma updated the group on the status of Paytm Payments Bank's compliance report filed to the banking regulator, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is now under review.

He added that it had taken longer than expected to receive RBI permission, but that it was imminent.

As of March 1, 2022, the RBI has ordered Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) to cease accepting new customers for the upcoming fiscal year. The PPBL will undergo a full system audit in FY2023 performed by an external auditor hired by the central bank.

The RBI delivered its final report on the matter to PPBL on October 21, 2022, detailing the institution's need to beef up its IT outsourcing processes and operational risk management, including know-your-customer procedures, among other things.

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