Paytm, which once dominated the country for online payments, is going through a bad phase these days. Recently, RBI canceled the license of Paytm Payments Bank, due to which the shares of the company also fell by 8 percent within a day. This is the incident that happened just now i.e. on 24th April 2026. But the company's bad times started about a decade ago. To understand why we are saying this, you will have to read the entire news.

This story begins about 16 years ago, in the year 2010. Coming from a middle class family, Vijay Share Verma, the son of a schoolmaster, did something that revolutionized the digital payment sector. Vijay started Paytm in the year 2010. Earlier, only online mobile recharge facility was available, after which Paytm wallet service was started. Then demonetization was announced in the country in the year 2016, after which the talk of increasing the cashless economy started gaining momentum again. Paytm's wallet service became quite popular after demonetization. In fact, demonetization completely gave a new shape to the online payment system and suddenly Paytm emerged as an option for digital payments in the entire country.

Where did the downfall start?

Everything was fine till demonetization. The growth of the company was also good and its hold in the market was also strong. Then the government took a decision. At the end of 2016, the government launched the UPI BHIM app to promote digital payments, due to which there was a slight decline in the reputation of Paytm. After this, there were continuous ups and downs in the company, which can be understood in the form of a timeline.

1. 2017- Paytm planned to enter wealth management business and create a digital bank. Paytm Payments Bank was launched in May, while Paytm Money was launched in June.
2. 2018- Warren Buffett's company Berkeley Hathaway invested about $300 million in One97 Communications. During this period, business grew rapidly, but concerns also began to emerge regarding Alibaba Group's investment. In June, the Reserve Bank of India imposed a ban on opening new accounts, which was lifted in December.
3. 2019- In March, RBI's Banking Ombudsman issued a show cause notice regarding violation of KYC rules. However, the matter did not worsen much.
4. Digital payments got a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and Paytm benefited from it. At the same time, after the Galvan Valley incident, the debate regarding investment from China intensified.
5. In July 2021, RBI again issued a notice in the case of giving wrong information. In October, a fine of Rs 1 crore was imposed for violation of rules. Paytm's IPO came in the same month, in which Ant Group reduced its stake. On the day of listing in November, the share opened 27% lower at Rs 1560, while the issue price was Rs 2150.
6. Tension increased between RBI and Paytm regarding IT audit in March 2022. There was a ban on adding new customers in October. In November, the application to become a payment aggregator was rejected.
7. In October 2023, RBI imposed a fine of Rs 5.93 crore for violation of regulatory rules.
8. In January 2024, RBI stopped most of the services of Paytm Payments Bank and gave customers time till 29 February.
9. After this, on April 24, 2026, RBI canceled the license of Paytm Payments Bank, due to which the banking operations came to a complete halt.

There was a huge decline in the company's shares

The impact of the cancellation of the company's payments bank license by the RBI was clearly visible on the market on April 27, 2026. As soon as the market opened on Monday, the first trading day of the week, the shares of Paytm's parent company crashed. By the time of trading, the company's shares had fallen by about 8 percent.