Paytm General Insurance Limited (PGIL), a subsidiary of One97 Communications Limited, has withdrawn its application for a general insurance license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). The company gave this information in a stock exchange filing on Saturday. The company said that withdrawing the license application will help the parent company save 950 crores, which was kept for investment in PGIL. PGIL said that the company will continue to work only on the distribution model for general insurance. The company will focus on providing insurance to Paytm customers and small merchants. One97 Communications Limited issued a statement saying that PGIL will focus on distributing insurance to Paytm customers, small merchants, small and medium businesses. The company said that its objective is to offer small-sized insurance including health, life, motor, shop and gadgets. The company said that it has strengthened partnerships with Digit, Acko, ICICI Lombard, New India, Bajaj Alliance, Tata AIG, Aditya Birla Health and Universal Sompo to promote the insurance segment. 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 thereafter 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 FY 2023-24. The loss in the same quarter of the previous financial year i.e. 2022-23 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. In the January-March quarter, Paytm’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,267 crore. In the same quarter last year, the revenue was Rs 2,334 crore. That is, in the fourth quarter, the company’s revenue fell by 3% on an annual basis. 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. Paytm recorded a revenue of Rs 9,977.8 crore from operations in 2023-24. It was Rs 7,990.3 crore in 2022-2023. That is, there has been an increase of 24.9% in revenue.
