Paytm Mall delists 85,000 sellers, tightens inclusion norms

Paytm Mall, the ecommerce arm of Paytm, has delisted about 85,000 sellers from its platform as it gears up to take on bigger rivals like Flipkart and Amazon.

The Times of India reported, the company had made it mandatory for sellers to furnish brand authorisation letters. Sellers will undergo strict quality and service audits that will include their registration number, shop location, shop photos and GSTIN in order to lists their products on the platform.

A senior executive of the company said the move is aimed at weeding out dubious seller profiles and fraudulent practices on its commerce platform.

"Our goal is to set the benchmark for a platform that empowers reputed local shopkeepers and brands to sell quality merchandise. We will work closely with existing sellers, and continue onboarding further. This will help us offer a superior consumer experience," Amit Sinha, COO, Paytm Mall, told TOI.

Paytm, which is betting on its online-to-offline (O2O) strategy to gain a firmer foothold in the market, will be assisting sellers for authorisation from brands so they can return on the platform.

In line with this move, the company on 10 July introduced new penalty and cancelation policies for sellers to enable faster and reliable deliveries.

The company recently raised $200 million led by Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba.

Paytm parent One97 Communications has also moved about 800 employees to the commerce arm with plans to hire 2,000 more in a year.