Rishi Gupta, MD and CEO of Fino Payments Bank, has been granted bail by a special court in Hyderabad in connection with an ongoing investigation involving program managers linked to multiple banks.
The Special Judge for Economic Offences, Nampally, Hyderabad, on Thursday granted bail to Rishi Gupta, MD & CEO, Fino Payments Bank (FPB).
The aforementioned case pertains to an ongoing investigation into certain program managers associated with multiple banks, including the Bank, and does not relate to the Bank’s GST compliance, FPB said in a regulatory filing.
Further, the Bank said it will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities. Gupta has been in judicial custody since late last month.
Operations remain stable, bank assures stakeholders
FPB said its operations remain stable and uninterrupted, and it will continue to serve its customers and stakeholders in the normal course of business.
“The Bank shall continue to engage constructively with regulators and stakeholders and shall make appropriate disclosures in accordance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements,” per the filing.
Ketan Merchant, Chief Financial Officer, FPB, in a statement issued on February 28, 2026, said: “…The Bank and its MD & CEO Rishi Gupta have nothing to do with the actions of the programme managers.”
Role of program managers explained
Shailesh Pandey, Chief Business Officer, FPB, in an analyst call, noted that the program manager is a payment service provider whose primary role is to identify merchants in the market and refer them to the bank for onboarding and end-to-end UPI payment services.
“The program managers fundamentally have multiple relationships where they provide different services to these merchants who require payment services, whether it is, you know, debit cards, credit cards, including UPI transactions. They integrate with multiple banks and Fino is also one of the banks with them, and we basically work with them for UPI collect services,” he said.
Interim CEO appointed amid developments
On March 06, 2026, FPB, in a regulatory filing, said its Board has approved the appointment of Ketan Merchant as Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Bank for carrying out the duties of MD&CEO as per provisions of Section 10B(9) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The aforementioned appointment was for a period not exceeding 4 months with effect from the date of approval of the Reserve Bank of India.
Special review initiated on GST compliance
The Bank has appointed a special consultant to conduct a special review of GST compliance and other aspects, as per the approved scope of work, based on the Audit Committee’s recommendation.
Published on March 27, 2026
