Paytm Money appoints Rakesh Singh as CEO after Varun Sridhar steps down: report

Paytm Money has appointed Rakesh Singh as chief executive officer (CEO), replacing Varun Sridhar, The Economic Times reported. 

Singh, who joined Paytm Money last month, was given the charge after Sridhar, who’s been at the helm since 2010, moved to a different role within the group, the report said, citing a person aware of the development. 

Rakesh Singh was earlier CEO of broking services at PayU-backed Fisdom. 

“The company has made an internal announcement that Varun will be transitioned into a different role within the group…his move is yet to be finalised. Rakesh left Fisdom in March, and joined Paytm Money last month,” the ET report said, citing the person.

Paytm Money is the wealth management platform of One 97 Communications Ltd founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma. It offers services related to equity and derivatives trading, depository services, and investment in IPOs and mutual funds. 

With a little over 800,000 users, Paytm Money is a comparatively minor player against its competitors—Groww (9.5 million), Zerodha (7.3 million), and Angel One (6.1 million), and Upstox (2.5 million).

The latest development comes amid a leadership churn at One 97 Communications since the Reserve Bank of India’s 31 January directive ordering Paytm Payments Bank to halt its banking services. 

Following the RBI action, the Central Depository Services India also launched a probe against Paytm Money to inspect the customer verification process followed by the broker. 

In February, Sharma stepped down as part-time non-executive chairman of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) and the bank board was reconstituted. 

The company said on 9 April that Surinder Chawla, Paytm Payments Bank’s Managing Director and CEO, had decided to step down on account of personal reasons and to explore better career prospects. He will, however, stay at the company till 26 June 2024.