Flipkart-owned digital payments major PhonePe has filed a police complaint against three Paytm employees for burning a pile of PhonePe QR codes in Greater Noida.
The police complaint noted that on July 28, one of PhonePe’s employees got a video on WhatsApp which showed a former employee, who is currently working with Paytm, burning a pile of PhonePe QR codes along with two other Paytm employees.
PhonePe has called this incident intentional destruction of its property, to harm its business and reputation. The company also said in the complaint that these actions may be a part of a larger conspiracy to malign PhonePe’s reputation and cause more financial loss. PhonePe has appealed to the police to investigate how these Paytm employees were able to get hold of such a large number of QR codes.
‘Full confidence in the police’
Commenting on the development, a PhonePe spokesperson said, “PhonePe has approached the police based on a video of a pile of its QR codes being set ablaze. We were able to identify some of the people in the video, including a Paytm Area Sales Manager (ASM). We have full confidence in the police and they are taking the necessary steps at the moment.”
To this, a Paytm spokesperson said that the company has suspended the employees in question. “This matter is between Phonepe and its ex-employees. We condemn the act committed by these rogue employees, who have already been suspended from the company pending a detailed investigation. We do not tolerate any act of misconduct and always stand by the highest standards of work ethics.”
According to July data shared by NPCI, PhonePe and Google Pay holds over 81 per cent of the total UPI volume and nearly 84 per cent of the value, while Paytm is the third top player in UPI transactions. This development was first reported by Moneycontrol.
Published on
August 02, 2022
