Paytm and Reliance Jio apologise for PM ad after the former rolls back its surcharge

On February 4, online wallet major Paytm and Reliance Jio were served with notices from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Distribution for using Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s photograph in their advertisements. More than a month later, on Friday, the duo have issued apologies for the “inadvertent mistake” in using the PM’s picture. 

This came after clarifications were sought from the companies for violating the provisions in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act of 1950, which prohibit the usage of the PM’s pictures for commercial purposes. Paytm ran a front page advertisement the day after the demonetization announcement on November 9 last year with the PM’s picture displayed prominently. Reliance ran theirs on September 2.

Besides apologising to the ministry, Paytm also sought apologies from its customers for imposing a two per cent charge on users who recharged their wallets through credit cards. Two days after Paytm announced a refundable two per cent surcharge, the company faced a lot of backlash on social media for targeting credit card customers, which prompted them to withdraw the move. 

In a blog post, the online wallet major announced that new features would be introduced to prevent misuse of the wallet to rotate cash without making any transactions. 

“Keeping the millions of customers and merchants interest as utmost priority, we have decided to suspend the 2% fees and will continue to build a series of features to curb such misuse,” the blog read.