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After RBI action, when will Paytm Payments Bank customers get their money back?
Before the RBI action began in 2022, the bank had over 300 million wallets and 30 million bank accounts, and claimed that it was driving financial inclusion in India.
The existing balances are expected to be refunded or made accessible through withdrawals and transfers, subject to the timelines and processes laid out during the closure.
After the Reserve Bank of India scrapped its banking licence on Friday, customers of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) are seeking clarity on the safety of their deposits and the likelihood of refunds. The payments bank — once claiming a customer base of over 100 million — has been progressively moving toward closure after its banking licence was effectively scrapped by the regulator.
The bank, promoted by One97 Communications and its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, had already been under restrictions since March 2022. In January 2024, the RBI barred the institution from accepting fresh deposits, citing persistent compliance concerns. The directive triggered unease among customers, many of whom began withdrawing their balances in anticipation of further action. As the wind-down process progresses, Paytm Payments Bank has stated that it will return all remaining customer funds.
What Paytm Payments Bank says
After the RBI scrapped the licence, the bank told customers, “Your money is safe. PPBL has sufficient liquidity to repay its entire deposit of all its customers. All balances held in your Savings Account, Current Account, prepaid instruments, Wallet, FASTags, NCMC cards and other deposit instruments with PPBL are fully secure. We will communicate further steps in time.”
The RBI also said Paytm Payments Bank has “enough liquidity to repay its entire deposit liability upon winding up of the bank”.
In the coming weeks, greater clarity is expected on the exact mechanism and timeline for refunds, but for now, both the regulator and the bank maintain that depositor money will not be lost.
The bank has not disclosed the current deposit base and the number of customers as of April 24, 2026.
100 million customers
Before the RBI action began in 2022, the bank had over 300 million wallets and 30 million bank accounts, and claimed that it was driving financial inclusion in India. It then said the bank had over 100 million KYC customers, with 0.4 million users added every passing month. “We are also the largest issuer of FASTag with over 8 million FASTag units issued,” the bank’s website says.
That’s history, and before the RBI actions.
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For a dwindling number of customers, the key takeaway now is that existing balances are expected to be refunded or made accessible through withdrawals and transfers, subject to the timelines and processes laid out during the closure. While the RBI’s intervention has effectively ended the bank’s operations, it has also emphasized safeguarding customer funds during the transition.
Customers pull out
The customer withdrawal started after March 11, 2022 when the RBI directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop, with immediate effect, onboarding of new customers.
On January 31, 2024, the RBI said no further deposits or credit transactions or top ups shall be allowed in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags and NCMC cards after February 29, 2024, other than any interest, cashbacks, or refunds which may be credited anytime.
Customers started exiting after the RBI said withdrawal or utilisation of balances by its customers from their accounts including savings bank accounts, current accounts, prepaid instruments, FASTags and National Common Mobility Cards would be permitted without any restrictions, up to their available balance. No other banking services like fund transfers (irrespective of name and nature of services like AEPS, IMPS), BBPOU and UPI facility should be provided by the bank after February 29, 2024, it said.
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