PhonePe CEO publicly defends Paytm “Can’t call it a Chinese app”

PhonePe CEO publicly defends Paytm “Can’t call it a Chinese app”. “To say that they are a Chinese app because of their shareholding is absurd”.

PhonePe CEO publicly defends Paytm “Can’t call it a Chinese app”. “To say that they are a Chinese app because of their shareholding is absurd”. Says Sameer Nigam, PhonePe CEO of digital payments app publicly defends Paytm. While referring to the competitor Paytm. In an interview with Economic Times, Nigam publicly defended Paytm while explaining critiquing the people who call it a “Chinese app” just because of the stake of Chinese multinational, Alibaba Group in it. 

While calling this attitude wrong and inconsistent, Nigam stated that Paytm has been a much “celebrated” app since the last 5 years in India while having their headquarters in the home country as well. Currently, people have started boycotting the app because there is a Chinese investment involved in it. However, the investment made by Alibaba in Paytm doesn’t make it a Chinese product altogether. 

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Paytm Not Chinese Says Sameer Nigam

“I don’t think you need to ban Chinese apps to innovate here”. Said Nigam when asked about his opinion on the Chinese app ban. And the focus on Atma Nirbhar Bharat. He also stated that the government is more concerned about data privacy and security in the time of military escalation and he himself is a “proponent of data security for sensitive information”. 

The founder of PhonePe asked for the separation of politics and policy. And said that criticizing investments and investors is not suitable for the business. “If the law of the land says we want FDI. We should be happy and proud that we are a hub of investment”. He added. 

Towards the latter half of the interview. He was asked about his response if PhonePe was an independent app (currently owned by Walmart). Just like Mobikwik, which prides itself in being a completely Indian app. After being astonished. He stated that Mobikwik’s largest investor is Sequoia. An American venture capital firm, and asked if now they should start putting up “flags” on twitter. 

While dissing the notion of blame game. He told everyone that InMobi’s Reposo. Which now claims to be ‘India’s made in India’ app. Also, has been talking about going global. With its biggest market being in China. From a long time. 

While concluding the interview, he stated that the government needs to make enforcement strong by passing the Data Privacy Bill. He also urged the government to take the market’s opinion in view before coming to any decision. “We need to be clear on whether we are allowing FDI. Since, too many questions and retrospective outlook is hurting our image”, he said.