One97 Communications has announced that its subsidiary, Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), has secured the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) authorisation to act as a payment aggregator (PA) for both offline payments as well as cross-border transactions.

With this approval, PPSL now possesses PA licences covering all major segments, including online, offline, and cross-border payments.

This development is said to support One97’s long-term plans for both domestic and global payment acceptance.

PPSL initially applied for the PA licence in November 2020, following the RBI’s guidelines on the regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways.

However, in November 2022, the RBI declined the application and requested a resubmission to ensure compliance with Press Note 3 under foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations.

To address the RBI’s requirements, PPSL submitted the necessary application on 14 December 2022 to the Government of India, seeking approval for the previous downward investment from One97 Communications into the company in line with Press Note 3 under FDI guidelines.

Recently, One97 Communications completed an infusion of Rs22.50bn ($250m) into PPSL.

According to the company’s regulatory filing, this investment was made through subscription to the rights issue of Paytm Payments Services equity shares.

Last month, One 97 Communications announced the receipt of the RBI’s online payment aggregator licence.

During the same month, Paytm introduced an updated version of its payments application, featuring a simplified interface and several new AI features aimed at enhancing digital transaction experiences for users.

The updated app integrates AI tools for expense tracking, balance management, and personalised insights.

In June, Paytm launched personalised UPI IDs, enabling users to make UPI transactions without revealing their mobile numbers. This feature allows for the creation of unique UPI handles.