Govt sends notice to Paytm, asks to stop using word 'Postcard' for its product

Digital wallet company Paytm, which recently had launched its flagship product 'Postcard' during festive season, has been warned over the use of the word ''Postcard' by India Post.

The home-grown e-commerce company has received a notice from India Post, which says that only India Post has the sole right to use the word 'postcard' under the IPO Act rules and regulations.

"It is hereby intimated that the use of word Postcard is the sole prerogative of India Post as per the IPO Act and established rules and regulations. Hence, the usage of the word Postcard is an infringement of the terms and conditions of the provisions of rules and guidelines," said the notice sent by Rahul Kaushik, assistant director general at India Post to TOI.

Backed by Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba, Paytm launched its latest product Paytm Postcard service during the festival of Raksha Bandhan— a digital version of gifting money during special occasions. Postcard is available for both iOS and Android.

As per Entrackr’s review, the Postcard receiver gets both a push notification and an SMS. The money gets added to the wallet once the e-gift is opened. You can also keep track of all the sent and received postcards under ‘My Postcards’ section in the Paytm app.

Also Read: Paytm to compete against WhatsApp, launch in-app chat messenger soon

As per the latest development, it was not immediately clear as to what the company’s immediate move would be, and whether if would rename the feature or remove it from the app altogether.

Earlier this month, RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch had appealed to the government to disallow investment in companies, which are getting funding from China.

In another incident, global payments major PayPal had challenged Paytm's trademark registration, accusing the Noida-based company of copying design and colour scheme. It was said that Paytm is "deceptively and confusingly similar to PayPal" and follows a similar colour scheme, which is likely to cause confusion among consumers. The claim was later dismissed by the Indian government.

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