Controversial take below:
No doubt that PayTM has been a poster-boy of Indian fintech startups. And Vijay Shekhar Sharma has been an exceptional entrepreneur: building PayTM into a homegrown brand and a multi-billion dollar public company. To that extent, PayTM does deserve a lot of respect from the entire startup community and all of us.
But in current context, they were found to be persistently non-compliant on certain regulations: regulations which are not new and which exist for the protection of consumer interest and overall trust in the ecosystem. That PayTM failed to adhere to them, is squarely on them. That is just oversight or just negligence on their part, and they are facing the consequences of their (in)action.
Why then this show of support for PayTM, who clearly is at fault here? Is it just sympathy for VSS and other PayTM employees who see a lot of their wealth dissipate overnight? Is it just teenage rebellion spirit against the "system" and believing startups are above them? Or is it just accepting that it is okay to cut corners, almost with the guilt of knowing we have erred similarly too?
I get the respect for the company and VSS, I do. But to present them as heroes who have been hard done by regulators, is a grossly misleading narrative.
