FM to examine concerns after Pai questions GST action against Fino Payments Bank CEO

Rishi Gupta, CEO and MD, Fino Payments Bank

• Finance Minister to review Fino Payments Bank CEO arrest concerns
• Mohandas Pai questions GST enforcement, urges safeguards
• Bank says operations unaffected, CFO named interim head

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The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she will look into concerns flagged by industry veteran Mohandas Pai over the arrest of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fino Payments Bank under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law, raising concerns over enforcement powers.

“Thanks for sharing this. Will check,” the Finance Minister said in response to Pai’s post on social media platform X.

The response came after Pai publicly questioned the arrest of the chief executive of a regulated bank and sought the Minister’s intervention.

Pai flags ‘overreach’ under GST

Writing on social media platform X, Mohandas Pai urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to look into the arrest, questioning how the chief executive of a regulated bank could be taken into custody over an issue involving a business partner. Terming the action “overreach”, he said the wide powers granted under the Goods and Services Tax framework warranted scrutiny and asked what safeguards existed to prevent misuse. He also requested the Minister to intervene.

The post referred to the arrest of Rishi Gupta, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of , under the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act and the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Act.

In a stock exchange filing, the bank said Gupta had been arrested in connection with a GST investigation and that the matter pertained to certain business partners. The bank stated that its operations remained unaffected and that the board had appointed the Chief Financial Officer as the interim head of the organisation.

Enforcement powers

Pai’s remarks have brought renewed attention to the scope of these arrest powers under GST and the checks available against potential misuse, particularly when they involve senior executives of regulated financial institutions.

The GST regime, rolled out in 2017, subsumed multiple indirect taxes into a unified system. Over the years, enforcement agencies have stepped up action against alleged tax evasion, including arrests in high-value fraud cases.

However, industry experts have periodically raised concerns over procedural safeguards, proportionality of action and the need for clear accountability mechanisms within enforcement frameworks.