Paytm rides out collateral hit from gaming ban, bets on AI for growth

A government crackdown on real-money gaming dented Paytm’s profit last quarter, but the fintech major’s broader turnaround stayed on track. The company took a one-time ₹190 crore impairment on a loan to its gaming joint venture, First Games Technology Pvt. Ltd, but the underlying profitability and growth momentum held firm.

At the company’s September quarter earnings call on Wednesday, founder and chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma said: “Our future growth and bottom-line expansion will come from India’s financial services business, replication of our product technology globally, and our AI stack—from infrastructure to use cases.”