Shashi Arora, CEO of Airtel Payments Bank, has stepped down, days after the company got embroiled into a controversy over transfer of Rs 168 crore worth of LPG subsidy to Airtel accounts which allegedly were opened without customers' informed consent. Arora had been working with Airtel since 2006.
He was made CEO of Airtel Payments bank in June 2016. Airtel was the first company to start payments bank operations after getting the licence.
On Thursday, Airtel said it had been allowed to use Aadhaar for re-verification of its mobile customers till January 10 with conditions. The development came after Airtel returned Rs 138-crore LPG subsidy of 55.63 lakh original accounts of its customers and even deposited a penalty of Rs 2.5 crore with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
UIDAI, however, maintained that Airtel Payments Bank eKYC licence will "remain suspended till final inquiry and audit report".
The stiff riders imposed by UIDAI range from limiting eKYC only for re-verification of telecom subscribers to Airtel informing its customers within the next 24 hours about mapping of the DBT benefits back to the original bank accounts, according to people close to the development.
Airtel would not be allowed to leverage the same for obtaining consent of the Aadhaar holder for opening bank accounts, wallet, Direct to Home (DTH) or any other goods or services.
UIDAI has asked both the Reserve Bank of India and the telecom department to conduct an audit of systems, processes, applications, documentations followed by Bharti Airtel "to ensure that the company is in compliance with their license conditions".
Airtel has said that 13.80 lakh Airtel payment bank account holders are already using the DBT subsidy amount and therefore their accounts have not been reversed on the mapper. But even in those cases, the company will have to provide an option to such customers (via SMS within three days) to switch to their previous DBT-linked bank accounts.
UIDAI has not allowed Airtel Payments Bank Limited to use eKYC licence key and it shall remain deactivated until further notice.
Last week, UIDAI temporarily barred Airtel from conducting Aadhaar-based SIM verification of mobile customers using eKYC process, and e-KYC of payments bank clients.
In a statement, an Airtel spokesperson said, "Shashi Arora has been associated with Airtel in senior leadership roles since 2006. He has been an asset for Airtel and over the years has contributed to the company's growth story. Having led the operations in key telecom circles followed by building a strong DTH business, he has laid the foundation for Airtel's payments bank operations. Shashi has decided to move on to pursue opportunities outside of Airtel. We wish Shashi the very best for his future endeavours."
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