Neeraj Arora Quits Paytm Board; Rajeev Krishnamuralilal Agarwal Joins as Independent Director

Former Chief Business Officer of WhatsApp Neeraj Arora has quit the board of the fintech firm One97 Communications, owner of the Paytm brand, citing preoccupation and personal commitments, a regulatory filing said on Monday. 

Arora had quit the Paytm board earlier in 2018 but rejoined it before the company's IPO. "The Board, at its meeting held today, i.e., June 17, 2024, took note of the resignation tendered by Shri Neeraj Arora, Non-Executive Independent Director of the Company, on account of pre-occupation and other personal commitments. He will accordingly cease to be a  non-executiv independent director, with effect from the closure of business hours on June 17, 2024," Paytm said in the regulatory filing. 

Arora was a key figure in negotiating the WhatsApp merger deal with social media major Facebook. He has co-founded his own social networking app, Hallo App, and a venture capital firm, Venture Highway. 

Paytm has onboarded the former whole-time director of market regulator SEBI, Rajeev Krishnamuralilal Agarwal, as an independent director for five years. 

Read: Why Zomato is Thinking of Buying Paytm’s Tickets Booking Business

According to the filing, Agarwal, during his tenure on the Board of SEBI, supervised and handled the policy of important equity, departments dealing with markets, bonds, currency, and commodities, mutual funds, foreign investors, international affairs, and corporate governance, among others. 

"He was responsible for the revival package of the mutual fund industry in 2012," the filing said. 

Speaking about Agarwal’s joining, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, “I am very happy to welcome Shri Rajeev Agarwal to the Paytm board. His expertise in regulatory and government-related matters will be an invaluable addition to our board. I would also like to express my gratitude to Shri Neeraj Arora for his significant contributions, which have been instrumental in our company's evolution." 

Meanwhile, recently, Zomato confirmed that it is in talks with the fintech major to acquire Paytm’s movie and ticketing business. Paytm’s vertical might be valued at Rs 1,600–1,750 crore; this could raise the valuation to Rs 2,000 crore. 

Highlighting the deal, Paytm said in a regulatory filing, “As noted in our earnings call, our focus will be on payment and financial services along with digital goods commerce, which are designed to help our merchants scale their businesses.” 

(With inputs from PTI)