FM Nirmala Sitharaman asks regulators to hold monthly meetings with startups and fintech firms to address their issues

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the Reserve Bank of India to hold monthly meetings with start-ups and fintech companies to address their regulatory concerns. While chairing the meeting with top executives of about 50 start-ups and fintech firms yesterday, the Minister said that innovative solutions by fintech companies are essential to the financial services sector. However, they must ensure strict compliance with regulations, she added.

The Minister asked the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to conduct a workshop with law enforcement agencies for



fintech ecosystem partners to discuss their issues and concerns. She also sought suggestions from fintech leaders to achieve greater ease of doing business and ease of living for consumers. RBI deputy governor T. Rabi Sankar, SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara, and officials from NPCI, Canara Bank, and Bank of Baroda were also present at the meeting.

This meeting comes in the wake of the RBI’s action against Paytm Payments Bank, which has brought regulatory compliance in the fintech industry into focus.