(Image source from: Political)

Paytm, a leading digital wallet company in India with more than 230 million customers, has reportedly shared private information of users with the Indian government.

According to report, the Indian investigative news agency Cobrapost disclosed a video of an undercover reporter in a conversation with Paytm's vice president, Ajay Shekar Sharma. During the meeting, the executive said the company rendered government the personal data of users in the state of Jammu and Kashmir after he received a phone call from Prime Minister's office subsequent to Kashmiri Muslims threw stones at Indian forces, which occur frequently in that highly charged region.   

“They told us to give them data, saying maybe some of the stone-pelters are Paytm users,” Sharma said in the video. The executive also said he has close ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization that is seen as the ideological head of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

In response to the report, Paytm tweeted saying, “There is absolutely NO TRUTH in the sensational headlines of a video doing rounds on social media. Our users’ data is 100% secure and has never been shared with anyone except law enforcement agencies on request. Thank you for your continued support.”

For more info: https://blog.paytm.com/your-paytm-data-is-never-shared-with-anyone-e26c6a7aae93

It further said, “Our policy allows ONLY legally compliant data requests through a thorough process from law of the land to get access to data for necessary investigations. To further clarify, in the past, we have neither received requests nor shared any data without a legally compliant request from a authentic agency and through proper process and channels.”

By Sowmya Sangam