Jan 21, 2025

Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox? SUBSCRIBE Thank you for subscribing to Morning Dispatch We'll soon meet in your inbox. Happy Tuesday! The NPCI is proposing to cut interchange fee on wallet-based UPI transactions. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Senior exit at LTIMindtree What’s in NPCI’s wallet? A plan to unclog banking channels The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the mobile wallet industry are considering reducing the interchange fee for Unified Payments Interface-based (UPI) transactions conducted via mobile wallets. The move comes as the payments body seeks to attract more non-bank players into the UPI ecosystem. Driving the news: Industry sources told us that large banks handling millions of UPI transactions almost daily are experiencing strain on their core banking systems. Furthermore, since this business doesn’t generate revenue, banks are pushing for mobile wallets to take some share of the transactions to reduce the burden. The fee is typically a percentage of the transaction plus a fixed amount. The background: Mobile wallets were the vanguards of the Indian digital payments story until UPI arrived and disrupted their core business . As a result of UPI, small-value payments processed by wallets have moved into the banking system, creating new challenges around safety and stress on the systems. Now, with UPI-wallet interoperability, the banking regulator hopes to bring wallets back into the game. Albinder Dhindsa, CEO, Blinkit and Deepinder Goyal, CEO, Zomato Food and grocery delivery company Zomato saw its net profit fall by 57% in the October-December quarter as the growth in its core food delivery business slowed. Expanding its quick commerce platform, Blinkit also affected profitability. Zomato’s numbers: Net profit down at Rs 59 crore, vs Rs 138 crore in Q3FY24 Eye on expansion: Blinkit, which rivals Swiggy’s Instamart and Zepto in the fierce quick commerce market, reported an Ebitda loss of Rs 103 crore in Q3, significantly higher than its Rs 8-crore operating loss in Q2. Quick commerce gross order value (GOV) is up 120% YoY at Rs 7,798 crore Blinkit reached its 1,000-dark store target ahead of its March deadline . CEO Deepinder Goyal said this is where most of the expansion was undertaken. Management’s take: “Our underlying mental framework is that if the core business is strong and if we have the bandwidth to expand at a faster pace than we are doing today, then we will do that, and loss is just going to be an outcome of that,” — CFO Akshant Goyal. Funding flush: Rapid delivery companies have raised substantial funding in the past year to intensify their competition in this red-hot sector. While Zepto raised over $1.3 billion , Swiggy secured almost Rs 4,500 crore through its initial public offering (IPO) in November. Similarly, Zomato raised Rs 8,500 crore in November via a qualified institutional placement (QIP) to strengthen its cash reserves. Paytm Q3 revenue falls 36% on year, net loss down marginally Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, Paytm Paytm's parent company, One97 Communications, reported a 35.8% decline in operating revenue for Q3 FY25 to Rs 1,827 crore, down from Rs 2,850 crore last year. CFO Madhur Deora stated that the company aimed to become profitable in one to two quarters. Driving the news: The company will discuss its IPO plans with the board next month, including options such as a reverse merger with Thyrocare. It aims to use its improved finances and revamped business model to attract public investors. Top-deck exits: People in the know said that three of PharmEasy’s cofounders—Dhaval Shah, Dharmil Sheth, and Hardik Dedhia—have stepped away from operational roles but remain on the boards of parent company API Holdings and Thyrocare. The trio are setting up a new consumer tech startup. A flurry of IPOs: This development aligns with a broader trend among Indian startups resuming their journey towards Dalal Street. Oyo aims to file draft papers by the first quarter of the new fiscal. India to take up Biden’s AI chip export curbs with Trump govt India will express its concerns to the Donald Trump administration about its predecessor’s decision to impose country-specific curbs on artificial intelligence (AI) computing and foundational models. What’s the issue? Under the Biden administration’s directive , India cannot import more than 50,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) annually, impacting its AI development plans. India currently imports approximately 10,000 GPUs. Tell me more: Officials told us that various government entities have already approached the government to express concerns about such a cap. The discussion will be conducted under the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) framework launched by prime minister Narendra Modi and former president Joe Biden in 2022. Other Top Stories By Our Reporters LTIMindtree president and board member Sudhir Chaturvedi resigns: In its latest senior leadership exit, India’s sixth largest IT services company, LTIMindtree, announced that Sudhir Chaturvedi has will resign from the position of whole-time director and president of global markets for the company with effect from January 27. Nazara raises Rs 495 crore: Online gaming firm Nazara Technologies on Monday announced that Arpit Khandelwal, founder and managing partner of Plutus Wealth Management, and Mithun Sacheti, founder of CaratLane, have invested Rs 495 crore through Axana Estates LLP, with their collective stake triggering a mandatory open offer. D2C lingerie brand Krvvy raises pre-seed funding: Krvvy, a functional innerwear brand for women, raised Rs 6.1 crore in funding in a pre-seed round co-led by Titan Capital and All In Capital. Global Picks We Are Reading ■ Mark Zuckerberg turns his back on the media ( Wired ) ■ ‘Not where you go to laugh’: LinkedIn turns to comedy ( FT )