Fino Payments Bank is the top loser on the NSE on Tuesday, March 24, with shares crashing 12.53 percent or ₹17.62 to trade at ₹122.95 as of 9:52 AM IST, touching a fresh 52 week low of ₹125.44 in intraday trade. The previous close was ₹140.57 and the year high was ₹339.00, meaning the stock is now trading at less than 37 percent of where it was at its best point in the past 12 months.
The trigger is unambiguous. The Telangana High Court has dismissed the writ petition filed by Fino Payments Bank’s Managing Director and CEO Rishi Gupta seeking to have his arrest declared unlawful, a ruling that removes the near-term legal pathway to his release and deepens the governance uncertainty hanging over the bank.
What the Court Ruled
A bench comprising Telangana High Court Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin dismissed Gupta’s writ petition, in the case formally titled Rishi Nand Kishore Gupta versus Union of India. Gupta’s petition had sought the court to declare his arrest by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence as arbitrary, illegal, highhanded, and violative of Articles 14, 19, 21, and 22 of the Constitution of India. The court’s dismissal of that petition means the arrest stands as lawful, Gupta remains in custody, and his legal team must now pursue other avenues for relief.
Fino Payments Bank issued a statement acknowledging the ruling while noting it awaits the full copy of the order. The bank reiterated that the ongoing investigation concerns certain programme managers associated with multiple banks and does not relate to Fino Payments Bank’s own GST compliance. The bank stated that its operations remain stable and uninterrupted and that it continues to serve customers in the normal course of business.
The GST Evasion Case Against Gupta
The case against Gupta traces its roots to a probe conducted by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence. According to the DGGI, Gupta was among the masterminds of an organised syndicate that routed funds linked to illegal online gaming platforms through shell entities and programme managers. The alleged GST evasion has been pegged at approximately ₹840 crore, based on an estimated ₹3,000 crore in transactions routed through such entities. Gupta was arrested by the DGGI in late February 2026 under provisions of the GST law.
The scale of the alleged evasion and the nature of the alleged scheme, involving illegal online gaming platforms and shell entities, goes well beyond a straightforward tax compliance dispute. The DGGI’s characterisation of Gupta as among the masterminds of an organised syndicate is the kind of framing that makes bail difficult to obtain and governance questions difficult to resolve quickly.
Who Is Running the Bank Right Now
Following Gupta’s arrest in late February, Fino Payments Bank appointed CFO Ketan Merchant as interim CEO to oversee day-to-day operations. A committee of directors and senior executives was simultaneously set up to ensure business continuity. The bank has maintained that customer balances and transaction volumes remain stable and that it continues to add approximately 10,000 CASA accounts daily, a metric that suggests the retail banking franchise is not experiencing an immediate customer confidence crisis.
The Small Finance Bank Transition at Risk
The most significant long-term question hanging over Fino Payments Bank is not the immediate stock price or even the CEO’s legal situation. It is whether the bank’s planned transition into a small finance bank can proceed on schedule.
Fino Payments Bank received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India in December 2025 to convert from a payments bank to a small finance bank, a transition that would allow it to offer a full range of lending products and significantly expand its revenue base. The RBI granted an 18-month window to complete the transition and the bank has said it expects to do so within that timeline.
A CEO in custody on GST evasion charges, a dismissed bail petition, an ongoing DGGI investigation, and a stock trading at a 52 week low are not the conditions under which a bank typically executes a complex regulatory transition. The RBI’s in-principle approval was granted to a bank with a different leadership reality than the one that exists today. Whether the regulator’s comfort with the transition remains intact given the current circumstances is a question the market is clearly pricing with significant concern.
The Numbers That Tell the Story
Fino Payments Bank at ₹122.95 has a market capitalisation of ₹10.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, and no dividend yield. The day range of ₹125.44 to ₹144.00 shows the stock opened sharply lower and continued falling through the morning session without meaningful support. The year range of ₹125.44 to ₹339.00 captures the full extent of the destruction of shareholder value since the CEO’s arrest became public.
For investors and depositors watching this situation, the bank’s insistence that operations are stable and the investigation does not concern its own GST compliance may be technically accurate. But a CEO in custody, a dismissed High Court bail petition, and a stock at a 52 week low on elevated volume are signals that the market does not yet believe the governance situation is sufficiently resolved to price the bank on its operating fundamentals alone.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.