Indian e-wallet firm Paytm started the year on a high after Modi government’s sudden demonetisation surprise sprung on the citizens of the country last year came as a blessing in disguise for the firm.

Post the demonetisation announcement, India saw the popularity of its mobile payment service sector increasing by many folds. While the already existing players in the market jumped to action to cash on the opportunity, several new ones came up to get a piece of the pie.

According to RBI, digital payment companies like Paytm, MobiKwik, FreeCharge clocked PPI payments worth a whopping Rs 13 billion in value across 59 million transactions in November 2016.

In a study done earlier this year by CouponDunia, a famous coupons site, it was revealed that digital wallets like PayTM, freecharge, followed by online cab players like Ola and Uber were among the top performing categories for cashless transactions post-demonetisation. PayTM, Freecharge, Mobikwik, Dominos Pizza and Yatra were the top performing brands post the demonetisation announcement, according to the study.

However, the winning streak might have just ended for Paytm. According to filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Paytm’s e-commerce arm Paytm Mall has registered a loss of Rs 13.63 crore for the 2016-17 financial year on total sales of Rs 7.35 crore in the year that ended March 31, 2017.

The filing also revealed that the firm’s total expenditure came up at Rs 20 crore, whereas reserves and surplus totalled up for Rs 1,284 crore.

However, Paytm isn’t so worried about the flunking numbers. Speaking to Mint, a Paytm Mall spokesperson said, “These are the initial years for Paytm Mall and we have a long-term perspective on building a successful tech business.”

Paytm Mall outgrew Alibaba’s e-wallet app in August, 2016. The firm, which was under the reigns of Paytm for a total of three years, started gaining pace in February after it announced several measures focused on growth.

In July, Paytm Mall filtered over 85,000 sellers from its platform so as to raise its quality standards and revamp its platform.

[Image: Trak]
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