Zomato, a major player in the foodtech sector, has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator, effective January 24, 2024.
In an exchange filing on Thursday (January 25), Zomato said, “we wish to inform that ZPPL (Zomato Payments Private Limited) has been granted certificate of authorisation dated January 24, 2024, from the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) to operate as an ‘Online Payment Aggregator’ in India.”
In 2021, the foodtech major announced the incorporation of ZPPL, a wholly owned subsidiary designated to operate as a payment aggregator and issuer of prepaid payment instruments.
Zomato Payments was established with an initial subscription of 10,000 equity shares, each valued at INR 10, aggregating to INR 1 Lakh. The company was incorporated with an authorized share capital of INR 20 Cr.
The company, actively engaging in a series of innovative experiments, is set to benefit from this development as it expands its range of offerings. Last year, Zomato introduced its proprietary Unified Payments Interface (UPI) service for both peer-to-peer (P2P) and merchant transactions. Nevertheless, around July of the same year, reports surfaced indicating that the company had temporarily halted the onboarding of new users onto the Zomato UPI platform.
Continue Exploring: Zomato temporarily halts registration of new users for Zomato UPI, plans to resume soon
In the meantime, Zomato has rolled out several additional features and services in an effort to bolster its revenue.
While Zomato has seen success in boosting its revenue and take rate for its food delivery business through measures like the introduction of a platform fee, the company is also reinforcing its commitment to the quick commerce vertical Blinkit. Notably, Zomato made a strategic move into the logistics space last year, unveiling a swift parcel delivery service for merchants through the introduction of a new app called Xtreme.
Continue Exploring: Foodtech giant Zomato diversifies into logistics with new Xtreme app
Building on this momentum, Zomato attained profitability in the current fiscal year and recorded two consecutive quarters of positive net income. The company’s stocks experienced a remarkable surge, with over a 100% increase in value in 2023.
This year, the company’s shares have seen a 9.9% gain, concluding the last trading session at INR 136 on the BSE.
