Bengaluru, September 26: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ordered Simpl, a  Bengaluru-based BNPL (buy-now-pay-later) startup to stop all the payment operations. The central bank said that that platform did not have proper authorisation under PSS (Payment Settlement Systems) act. RBI stated that Simpl was running operations of payment, clearing and settlement without having a needed Certificate of Authorisation.

Simpl confirmed receiving a note from the Reserve Bank of India to cease all the payment operations and the company said that, "we cannot operate without a license". Simpl founder and CEO Nitya Sharma mentioned that they received notice; however did not have time to respond to the regulator, as per a report by Inc42. What Is ChatGPT Pulse? Know All About OpenAI’s New Feature Designed To Offer Deeply Personal Assistance to Users.

Simpl Ordered to Cease All Payment Operations by RBI

Simpl received a notice from RBI after the ED (Enforcement Directorate) filed a complaint in July alleging the digital payment platform and its CEO Nitya Sharma for violating the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) rules. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had alleged that the startup violated the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, involving transactions worth INR 913.75 crore.

Simpl CEO Nitya Sharma pointed out that the fresh order received from RBI on Thursday was not related to the ED accusation. The company claimed to work in the information technology and service sector to raise money at the time over the accusations. Sharma added that Simpl would wait for the clarification from RBI as they go through notice to understand the situation better and get on call with the regulator.

Simpl Startup History and Operations

Simpl was founded as a fintech startup in 2015 in Bengaluru and it launched the first digital payment instrument in 2016. The platform offers BNPL (buy-now-pay-later) services to allow the customers to buy items across various various e-commerce websites. It also operates in food delivery and quick commerce platform, offering late payment option up to 15 days with zero interest. OpenAI Unveils GDPval Evaluation To Assess AI Performance on Real-World, Economically Valuable Tasks Across Key US Industries.

Simpl’s clients include Zomato, BigBasket, Rapido, and Box8. The startup partners with over 26,000 merchants, making it a major player in India’s BNPL space. It was co-founded by Nitya Sharma, a former Goldman Sachs VP, and Chaitra Chidanand, who left in 2020 to start another fintech venture.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 26, 2025 01:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).