The Reserve Bank of India’s regulatory action on Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) had drawn attention of fintech firms to the importance of complying with laws, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Sunday.

The minister stressed that regulatory compliance could not be “optional” for companies. Rather, it was an aspect that every entrepreneur must pay full attention to.

Mr Chandrasekhar, the minister of State for electronics and IT, said that the issue of Paytm’s payments bank was a case where a hard-charging and aggressive entrepreneur had failed to realise the need for regulatory compliance and that no company could get away if it was non-compliant with law.

Any company, be it from India or abroad, big or small, had to abide by the law of the land, the Minister asserted amid the unfolding PPBL crisis.

Mr Chandrasekhar said that the notion that RBI action on PPBL had rattled fintechs was not a correct characterisation. The politician, entrepreneur and technocrat disagreed that the PPBL issue had raised worries about detrimental consequences for the entire fintech industry.

“I think it (the RBI’s action) has drawn the attention of fintech entrepreneurs to the fact that you also have to know how to comply with the law. Regulatory compliance is not an optional thing for any country in the world, certainly not in India, and it is something that they (entrepreneurs) should pay more attention to,” he said.