Rishi Gupta, Managing Director and CEO of Fino Payments Bank, was arrested on Friday under the provisions of the CGST and SGST Acts, the lender said in a regulatory filing.
In an exchange disclosure under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) listing regulations, the bank clarified that the investigation pertains to a business partner and is not related to its own GST compliance.
The bank said it is actively taking appropriate steps to address and overcome the situation. It further informed that Chief Financial Officer Ketan Merchant has been appointed to head the organisation and oversee day-to-day operations.
He was arrested by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), the investigative arm of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department, in Hyderabad.
“Presently there is no impact on the Bank. In case of any impact in the future, appropriate disclosure will be made to the stock exchanges,” said the lender. As per the statement, the Ground of Arrest against the CEO was issued on February 27, 2026 at 3:55 a.m.
Recently, Fino Payments Bank received Reserve Bank of India’s in-principle approval for conversion into a small finance bank, making it the first one among its peers to do so. Fino, the only publicly listed entity in payments bank space, is allowed to lend after the conversion, something which payments banks are not allowed to do.
