PayTM: A Dragon in Your Wallet

PayTM has been growing exponentially in India but the author has some concerns

PayTM has been growing exponentially in India but the author has some concerns
PayTM has been growing exponentially in India but the author has some concerns

[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]P[/dropcap]M Modi has done a great job by demonetizing Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes. But, MOST UNWITTINGLY, the biggest beneficiary of this historic move is PayTM (Pay Through Mobile) company which though headed by an Indian, Vijay Sharma, it actually has three major Chinese investors- Alibaba, Alipay and SAIF. Out of four owners of PayTM, three are Chinese!!! What is dangerous is that this dragon, PayTM, is growing at an exponential rate in our retail economy post-demonetization and is creating a massive retail banking network which, in all likelihood, will weaken our banking system.

It is a pre-condition that you must permit access to all your personal data if you want the App (PayTM) in your mobile.

What is more worrying is that when you download the PayTM App it asks for your permission to access your wifi chats, SMSes, contacts etc etc. It is a pre-condition that you must permit access to all your personal data if you want the App in your mobile. So in a jiffy the Chinese can access all vital info about millions of Indians!!! We are sitting Pekingese ducks. Can any Indian company get even a fraction of info about Chinese citizens?

While we want Modi’s scheme to succeed, do we also want Chinese to benefit from it?

China is occupying 5000 sq kms of our Kashmir through which it is building the CPEC ignoring our protests, it is the strongest ally of our enemy — Pakistan, it is backing terror mastermind Masood Azhar. And here we are willingly helping a company with a strong Chinese imprint.

If despite all these cold facts, if you still want to opt for PayTM, best wishes to you. God save my India!!!

Editor’s Note:
In principle having foreign investors is not bad because PayTM perhaps also got the technology from Alibaba (since AliPay is the equivalent in China). Whether the data leaks out of India is or not is dependent on how Govt. frames the rules… If there is a rule that all India related data has to physically be in India, then it is possible to contain it within India. Germany has this in place and can be a reference for India to follow.

Advocate and Senior Journalist who was formerly City Editor & Chief of Bureau of The Times of India, Mumbai. He has also served in the MumbaiMunicipal Council.
S Balakrishnan
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