India, Sept. 12 -- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of INR 21 Lakh on IPO-bound PhonePe Limited for violating norms related to Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs).

"The penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 30(1) read with Section 26(6) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007," the central bank said in a statement.

The RBI conducted a statutory inspection on the fintech major's operations between October 2023 and December 2024 found that. During the inspection operations, the apex bank found out that the "end-of-day balance" in the Walmart-owned startup's escrow account was less than the value of outstanding PPIs and payments due to merchants ...