Paytm rewards employees with nearly 2L shares
What's the story
Paytm has issued a total of 188,879 equity shares to its employees under the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) 2019 scheme. The allotment was approved by the company's nomination and remuneration committee on January 3. Each share has a face value of ₹1 and is being offered at an exercise price of ₹9 per share.
Capital increase
Equity share capital increases post allotment
With this allotment, Paytm's issued, subscribed, and paid-up equity share capital has gone up from ₹63.95 crore to ₹63.97 crore. The total number of outstanding equity shares now stands at 63.97 crore. The newly issued shares will have the same rights as existing equity shares in terms of voting rights and dividends, and they are not subject to any lock-in period.
New grant
Paytm grants additional stock options under ESOP scheme
In a separate disclosure, Paytm's board has approved the grant of 123,908 stock options to eligible employees under the same ESOP scheme. At Paytm's last closing price of ₹1,340.7, these newly granted options are worth around ₹16.6 crore. However, it's worth noting that around 420,000 older options have lapsed during this period.
Challenges
Regulatory scrutiny and profit decline
Paytm's employee stock options have been under regulatory scrutiny for the past year. In May 2025, the company and its founders settled a case with SEBI over alleged disclosure lapses related to Vijay Shekhar Sharma's promoter status at the time of IPO. As part of the settlement, they forfeited 21 million ESOPs and agreed to a three-year ban on receiving new stock options from listed companies.
Financials
Paytm's financial performance in Q2
For the September quarter of the current fiscal year, Paytm reported a steep year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit to ₹21 crore from around ₹928 crore last year. However, revenue from operations grew by 24% to ₹2,061 crore. The company recently received RBI approval for offline and cross-border payments for Paytm Payments Services.