LIC-Backed Penny Stock Hits 5% Upper Circuit As RBI Renews Authorization For White Label ATMs Till March 2026

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has renewed the authorization for Vakrangee Limited to establish, operate and manage WLAs in India. The authorization is valid until March 31, 2026, which strongly emphasizes Vakrangee's effort towards improving financial inclusion in the country. As of January 31, 2025, Vakrangee has deployed 6,035 White Label ATMs, out of which 76% are situated in Tier 4 and Tier 6 areas, thus enabling financial inclusion in the neglected and deprived regions.

Vakrangee's White Label ATMs play an important role in the company's Kendra business model, which seeks to reach rural and half-urban areas of the country. As Mr Vedant Nandwana, the Managing Director of Vakrangee Ltd, noted recently, "We are pleased with the decision of the RBI to renew our authorization for the White Label ATMs business. These are important parts of the services we provide through our traditional ventures. We are particularly pleased from our customers satisfaction level in rural and semi urban centers."

Presently, Vakrangee has 22,395 Kendras operational in the country, out of which 81% are in Tier 4 and 6 areas. These Kendras are super shops that provide a variety of services which include commencements, banking, insurance, e-commerce, vending teller machines, and many more. All of these services can be offered in a single kiosk. The latest technology is used in the Kendras, for example, they are equipped with CCTV, digital displays for adverts, and biometric or pin pads for transactions.

In recent news, Vakrangee has entered into a strategic corporate agency partnership with Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited. The purpose of this initiative is to make Tata AIG's diverse portfolio of general insurance products, such as health, motor, travel and other insurance services available across the extensive network of Vakrangee Kendra's. The partnership is centred on increasing financial inclusivity in low insurance penetration areas by making insurance products available and affordable.

As of December 2024, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) had a 4.41% stake in the company, while Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) increased their stake from 2.74% to 2.82% in September 2024.

Founded in 1990, the firm has been able to grow as one of India's major last-mile delivery systems by integrating both the physical and digital space to provide pivotal services. Through the company's Vakrangee Kendras and BharatEasy Mobile Super App, customers can access banking, capital markets, e-governance, e-commerce, healthcare, and even logistics services as primary markets including rural and semi-urban areas. It is India's foremost provider of fintech services, and most importantly, it enables everyone to be a part of the economy - financially, socially, and digitally.

With the renewal of its White Label ATM authorization and the expanding network of Kendras, the firm has been able to provide a gap between urban and rural India, guaranteeing basic financial services to everyone in the southern region.