Sachin Bansal resigns from Ujjivan Small Finance Bank's board after former Flipkart co-founder's firm applies for banking licence

New Delhi: Sachin Bansal has resigned from the board of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd citing that an entity owned and controlled by him has applied for a universal banking licence, according to a regulatory filing. Chaitanya India Fin Credit, a microlender in which the Flipkart co-founder has a majority stake, had earlier this month said it has applied to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for universal bank licence. “I would like to resign as an independent director of the bank with effect from 27 January, 2020. Given an entity owned and controlled by me has made an application to the RBI for a universal banking license, I felt it was – in the interest of propriety and corporate governance – only appropriate that I stepped down from this role,” Bansal said in his resignation letter, which was disclosed by Ujjivan SFB in the regulatory filing.

#JustIn | @_sachinbansal resigns as independent director of @UjjivanBank as co owned by him applies for universal banking licence pic.twitter.com/EI7u7Ksuur

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He added that consequently, he will also cease to be a member of various board committees of the bank. Ujjivan Small Finance in the filing said, “The bank has received a letter dated 27 January, 2020 from Sachin Bansal tendering his resignation as an independent director of the bank with effect from 27 January, 2020”. Bansal had acquired Chaitanya in September with an investment commitment of Rs 739 crore. Chaitanya was founded in 2009 and operates 40 branches in Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Bansal, chief executive officer of Navi Technologies that had invested in Chaitanya, previously talked about building a universal bank being a reflection of the entity’s commitment to provide financial services to those who need them the most. “Our vision is to go beyond what hitherto has been broadly defined as ‘financial inclusion’ and provide access to formal financial services using technology that people can use intuitively and easily,” Bansal had said.