The Reserve Bank of India announced on Friday that the NPCI has been ordered to investigate the prospect of becoming a third-party application provider for the Paytm app's sustained UPI operations.

The central bank has prohibited Paytm Payments Bank from accepting new deposits into its customers' accounts and wallets after March 15, 2024.

With the goal of ensuring seamless digital payments by UPI customers using the '@paytm' handle operated by the Paytm Payments Bank, the RBI said it has asked the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to examine the request to become a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) for UPI channel for the Paytm app's continued operation.

The request was filed by One97 Communication Ltd (OCL), the company that controls the Paytm brand, according to an RBI statement.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that the NPCI may support the certification of 4-5 banks as Payment Service Providers (PSPs) with demonstrated capacity to process high volume UPI transactions in order to facilitate the seamless migration of the '@paytm' address to other banks.