Merchant will oversee day-to-day activities in his capacity as MD and CEO for a period of four months
Head of finance Anup Aggarwal has been appointed to replace Merchant as the interim chief financial officer
The company has also appointed a “special consultant” to review its GST compliances based on recommendation of the Audit Committee
About a week after its MD & CEO Rishi Gupta’s arrest, Fino Payments Bank has appointed its CFO Ketan Merchant as its new interim CEO. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the bank approved Merchant’s appointment as its acting CEO for a period not exceeding four months post approval from the RBI.
Meanwhile, Fino’s head of finance, investor relations and analytics Anup Aggarwal will step up to fill in the CFO role while Merchant oversees the bank’s operations as its CEO for a period not exceeding four months.
To ensure continuity, the board has constituted a committee of directors and senior executives to oversee operations, with Merchant supervising day-to-day operations in the absence of Gupta, Fino had stated in an investor meeting held earlier this week.
The company has also appointed a “special consultant” to review its GST compliances based on recommendation of the Audit Committee.
Since Gupta’s arrest late on February 27 by the Hyderabad Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Fino has maintained that the allegations of GST non-payment stemmed from the actions of a business partner and are unrelated to the bank’s or its CEO’s activities.
Gupta was arrested under section 132(1)(a) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act and section 132(1) (i) of the state GST Act, both of which carry a five year prison sentence.
The DGGI has allegedly pinned the GST evasion at ₹840 Cr ($91.3 Mn), stemming from an organised syndicate helmed by Gupta who was involved in routing funds linked to illegal online gaming platforms via shell entities and programme managers associated with Fino Payments Bank.
Important to mention that Gupta’s reappointment as Fino’s MD and CEO was recently approved by the RBI. The apex bank had approved the reappointment for a period of three years, with effect from May 2, 2026, on January 28.
Business As Usual Says Fino
The bank has reiterated that it has a strong corporate governance and compliance framework in place, and it is compliant with all the laws, including GST. It has also maintained that no other officials from the company are involved in the probe and the arrest has had no material impact on its business, which is running as usual.
In a shareholders meeting held earlier this week, Fino said its plan to transition into a small payments bank is on track and preparations continue as planned within the regulatory timeline granted by the RBI. No communication regarding a change in the transition has been made by the authorities, it added.
The startup ecosystem came out in solidarity with Guptawith former Infosys CFO and Aarin Capital cofounder Mohandas Pai questioning how the CEO of a regulated bank could be arrested for alleged GST evasion by a business partner.
After he expressed displeasure at the arrest on X, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took cognisance of the case and reportedly issued an investigation by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). It is likely to evaluate the matter and present a report to the finance ministry.
Fino’s shares have come under pressure since the arrest of Gupta. The company’s shares tanked to a fresh 52-week low of ₹167.8 on March 2. Shares of the company ended Friday’s trading session 1.1% lower at ₹179.9.
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