Tarun Bajaj, a former revenue secretary, and two executives from Walmart join PhonePe’s board

MUMBAI: Tarun Bajaj, a former revenue secretary, has been appointed as an independent director to the board of PhonePe, a company owned by Walmart. According to a business official on Tuesday, Bajaj will also take over as head of the risk committee. Along with Bajaj, two other executive vice presidents from Walmart—John D. Rainey, who serves as chief financial officer, and Donna Morris, who serves as executive vice president and chief people officer—have also joined the board of the fintech firm as non-executive directors.

After it was discovered that Byju’s and Paytm, two of the largest startups in India, had serious compliance and corporate governance issues, businesses are becoming more watchful and seem to be making efforts to improve their corporate governance procedures. Additionally, PhonePe is getting ready for a possible public listing. At $12 billion, the firm is the most valuable privately owned fintech startup in India.
Co-founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, executive from Walmart Leigh Douglas Hopkins, industry veteran Rohit Bhagat, co-founder of Flipkart Binny Bansal, and recent arrivals Donna Catherine Morris, John David Rainey Jr., and Tarun Bajaj will now be on the PhonePe board.
Following violations of the regulatory framework regarding KYC and the bank’s connection with its parent, including purportedly fraudulent compliance reports, the RBI last week placed restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank’s activities. Executives in the fintech industry said that they are now more focused on corporate governance and compliance.