Biz Updates: PhonePe pulls out of account aggregator business, calls for two-day bank strike from March 24

New Delhi| PhonePe, the country’s largest financial technology company, said on Friday that it was out of the account aggregation business because it could not add enough partners to provide the services it expected. The company said it has decided to hand over the NBFC-AA license to the RBI, and has taken the initiative to close AA operations – under which the company, with the consent of the users, can obtain their financial information and provide financial services like loans, credit cards etc. Permission was granted to share with banking and financial institutions for providing services.

“We are proud that we have managed to register nearly 50 million Indians on our AA platform in less than two years”, PhonePe said. However, due to competing priorities, we have not been able to include as many Financial Information Providers (FIPs) on our platform as we would have liked… So PhonePe Group has decided to exit the account aggregator business and instead we will partner with other AAs in the market” This Walmart group company received an AA license in June 2023. The company said it will soon reach out to its AA user base to inform them about the decision and help them as per regulatory guidelines.

Bank unions call for two-day strike from 24 March
Bank unions have announced a two-day nationwide strike from March 24 over various demands, including a five-day working week and adequate recruitment in all cadres. The strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), a joint organization of nine bank employee unions, is also aimed at filling the posts of employees/officer directors in public sector banks (PSBs). UFBU said in the statement on Friday that after due discussion and deliberation, it has been decided to launch a movement program with two consecutive days of strike on March 24 and 25, 2025. In addition, UFBU has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the recent instructions of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) on performance review and performance-based incentives, which ‘threaten job security and create division among employees.’ UFBU alleged that the autonomy of the board related to micro management of public sector banks in policy matters on the part of DFS has weakened.

It also sought resolution of the remaining issues pending with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and also sought amendment of the Gratuity Act to increase its limit to Rs 25 lakh and exemption from income tax on the lines of the Government Employees’ Scheme. Members of UFBU include All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), National Bank Employees Confederation (NCBE), All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) and Indian Bank Employees Confederation (BEFI).

Thiruvananthapuram: Government in Kerala presented a budget of Rs 27000 crore deficit
The fifth and final budget presented on Friday by the Pinarayi Vijayan government, which came to power in Kerala for the second time, did not make any major populist announcements like increase in welfare pensions, but focused more on infrastructure development. Finance Minister KN Balagopal presented the budget for the year 2025-26 in the Assembly.

Despite the Finance Minister’s claim that Kerala has overcome the financial constraints affecting the state in recent years, the budget outlines measures to increase revenue, including increasing land tax, road tax on electric vehicles and Including court fees to increase its receipts, Which is about Rs 27,000 crore less than the proposed expenditure for 2025-26.

Signaling a recovery in the state’s financial sector, the minister announced steps to transform the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) into a revenue-producing entity as it is burdened with heavy debt due to borrowing for various development projects worth over Rs 87,000 crore.

RBI allowed opening of 156 Vostro accounts in 26 banks for rupee trading
So far, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed 123 banks from 30 trading partner countries to open 156 special Rupee Wastro accounts (SRVAs) with 26 banks in India to boost bilateral trade in local currencies, the government reported on Friday.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasad said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that the Reserve Bank of India has partnered with select trading partner countries like UAE, Indonesia and Maldives to encourage settlement of cross-border trade in the rupee and the local bank of the partner country. Local currency settlement system arrangements have also been made with.

“So far RBI has allowed 123 correspondent banks from 30 trading partner countries to open a total of 156 SRVAs with 26 AD (authorized deal) banks in India”, he said The Government, in consultation with the RBI, has taken several steps towards increasing the availability and acceptability of domestic currency and the use of other local currencies for cross-border transactions.

Government will release unemployment figures every month from April
The government will release unemployment figures every month from the month of April. Statistics Ministry Secretary Saurabh Garg has said that we are already collecting unemployment data from January, but we will release them from April. These employment figures will also help to influence policies at local level. The sample size for the jobs survey has been increased from 16 000 to about 22 000. Its purpose is to reduce the possibility of mistakes. Until now only quarterly unemployment figures for urban areas and combined annual figures for urban and rural areas were released. Till now, a private company Center for Monitoring Indian Economy releases unemployment figures every month.

Access to NDS OM to registered non-banking broker
Non-banking brokers registered with SEBI can get direct access to electronic trading platform NDS-OM for transactions in government securities on behalf of their clients. Currently, access to the Negotiated Dealing System Order Matching (NDS-OM) platform is available only to customers of regulated entities, banks and primary dealers. Meanwhile, RBI has announced the formation of a nine-member working group to comprehensively review the trading and settlement timings of regulated markets. RBI Executive Director Radha Shyam Ratho has been made its chief. The group will identify the challenges of the markets regarding trading time and settlement and report by April 30, 2025.

ITC will acquire Prasuma
ITC has signed an agreement to acquire Prasuma, a leading company in the frozen and ready-to-cook food sector. The acquisition will be completed in three years. 43.8% stake in the first phase and the remainder will be completed by June, 2028. Prasuma specialized in momos, baos, Korean fried chicken, high quality delicatessens, etc. The acquisition will further strengthen ITC.

LIC: Profit increased by 17% to 11,056 crore
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has made a profit of Rs 11,056 crore in the December quarter of the current financial year. This is 17 per cent more than in the same period a year ago. The company reported on Friday that its income from net premiums declined to Rs 1.07 lakh crore in the December quarter. Total income also declined to Rs 2.02 lakh crore. Management expenses declined to Rs 14,416 crore.