Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India i.e. IRDAI has accepted the application to withdraw Paytm’s application for general insurance license. The company gave this information in the stock exchange filing on June 13. After withdrawing the application, Paytm will now focus on the distribution of insurance products of other insurance companies. That is, it will sell these insurance products on its platform. Paytm has partnerships with companies like ICICI Lombard, New India, Tata AIG. After this news, Paytm’s stock is up 6% today. It is trading at Rs 430. The company’s stock has risen 22% in the last 5 days. However, due to RBI’s ban on Paytm Payment Bank, the stock has fallen 28% in the last 6 months. Paytm wants to double the insurance distribution Paytm said – This step is in line with our focus towards doubling the insurance distribution in the health, life, motor, shop and gadget segments. Paytm provides this service through its subsidiary Paytm Insurance Broking. Paytm, a company focused on small ticket general insurance, said that it aims to innovate small ticket insurance products for consumers by focusing on small ticket general insurance offerings with its partners and using the strength of Paytm’s distribution. Earlier, the company had said that withdrawing the license application would help the parent company save Rs 950 crore, which was earmarked for investment in PGIL. PGIL said that the company will continue to operate only on a distribution model for general insurance. In May 2022, the Board of Directors approved applying for the license In May 2022, the Board of Directors of One 97 Communications Limited approved the proposal to increase the company’s stake in PGIL from 49% to 74% and then apply for a general insurance license. The remaining stake is held by VSS Holdings Private Limited, owned by the company’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Paytm’s fourth-quarter loss increased by 228% Paytm’s parent company One 97 Communications has suffered a loss of Rs 550 crore on an annual basis in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24. In the same quarter of the previous financial year i.e. 2022-23, the loss was Rs 167.5 crore. That is, the company’s loss has increased by 228%. The company’s revenue i.e. income has also declined. Paytm’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,267 crore in the January-March quarter. The revenue in the same quarter last year was Rs 2,334 crore. That is, the company’s revenue fell by 3% on an annual basis in the fourth quarter. The company’s loss reduced by 19% in the financial year 2023-24 Talking about the entire financial year 2023-24, the company’s loss has reduced as compared to 2022-2023. In 2023-24, Paytm recorded a loss of Rs 1,422.4 crore. In 2022-2023, it was Rs 1,776.5 crore. That is, the loss has reduced by 19%. At the same time, the company’s revenue has increased in the entire financial year 2023-24. In 2023-24, Paytm recorded a revenue of Rs 9,977.8 crore from operations. In 2022-2023, it was Rs 7,990.3 crore. That is, the revenue has increased by 24.9%.
