PhonePe, Pine Labs get trolled for petty marketing against Paytm

Amidst widespread support from customers, merchants, and the startup community for Paytm, one of India's top fintech firms, Pine Labs issued a promotional tweet that subtly criticized Paytm's newspaper ads, that were aimed at reassuring users about the reliability of its devices. However, the move by Pine Labs, backfired, sparking a flurry of backlash against them. People called it out saying it was an ‘unclassy’ and distasteful approach.

Paytm’s front page ads in regional newspapers went on to assure its merchant partners that Paytm QR, Soundbox, and Card machine will continue to work as always even beyond March 15, following regulatory clarity.  In response, the Pine Labs Posted on Social media platform X saying ‘Front- page ads can be bought. Trust cannot’. But that seems to have backfired for them.

“The promoted Twitter post by Pine Labs taking a dig at fellow #Fintech Paytm is below the belt. Vijay Sir is the pioneer of #Fintech revolution in #Indian #startup ecosystem,” Satya Mehta, founder and CBO of a food tech startup MealPe, wrote on LinkedIn.

Another, Karthik Srinivasan, a LinkedIn top voice and ex-communications specialist of Ogilvy, Flipkart, understanding the competitive nature of the business world, highlighted that even in such an aggressive environment, it's possible to address competitor's setbacks in a dignified manner.

“I fully understand that we are in a cut-throat, dog-eat-dog world. But even in such a world, there are perfectly civil ways to use a rival's misfortune (brought upon by itself) without alluding directly to the rival,” Srinavasan wrote. “I hold no brief for Paytm and believe the RBI action, after multiple warnings, is appropriate, for taking compliance so casually. But this below-the-belt jab from Pine Labs seems unwarranted,” he added.

Many pointed out the irony of Pine Labs using a promoted tweet on Twitter to mudsling. This approach also sparked a debate on the ethics of corporate competition, with industry observers and insiders calling for a more supportive ecosystem among startups.

Amit Gupta, business consultant wrote on Linkedin, calling out Pine Labs, for not appreciating Paytm’s resilience and its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s who built the ecosystem from scratch.  

“Not good Pine Labs - Trolling Paytm with a sponsored post yourselves? Who runs your creative team Amrish Rau?,” his post read.  “Don't wish to support - don't. But why this pettiness? Same with Phonepe CEO being so upbeat on grabbing 'market share proportionately.”

Gupta’s reference to PhonePe came at the backdrop of its CEO claiming in an interview they will ‘grab market share proportionately’ after RBI clampdown on Paytm.

Amit Veer, CEO of Coffeee.io, criticized Pine Labs for mocking Paytm, highlighting the irony of Pine Labs previously hiring Paytm's employees without interviews due to their valuable skills.

He reminded Pine Labs of the potential repercussions of such actions and sought to maintain integrity in business practices.

‘Classless and reeks of the scarcity mindset ( you have to lose for me to win) so ingrained in most of us. There are better ways to promote your brand without demeaning your competitor,’  Arindam Paul, CBO of Atomberg Tech, tweeted.

Paytm is fighting a wave of misinformation, exacerbated by unfair marketing tactics from rivals even as it embarks on a social media blitz to clarify that their services remain unaffected by a recent regulatory directive.