Fresh ESOP Allocation
One 97 Communications, the parent entity of Paytm, has approved the grant of 1,23,908 stock options to eligible employees under its ESOP Scheme 2019, according to a stock exchange filing. Based on the company’s last traded share price of ₹1,340, the newly granted options are valued at approximately ₹16.6 crore.
Equity-Based Compensation Strategy
The ESOP issuance forms part of One 97 Communications’ broader employee incentive framework. Stock-based compensation continues to be used as a retention and motivation tool as the company stabilises its core operations following regulatory and business restructuring over the past year.
RBI Nod for Payments Arm
The disclosure follows a key regulatory development at Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of One 97 Communications. Last month, PPSL received authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment aggregator for physical or offline payments as well as cross-border transactions.
Broader Payments Capability
With the latest approval, PPSL now holds payment aggregator authorisations across online, offline and cross-border segments. The company said this enables it to offer payment aggregation services across a wider range of merchant use cases, strengthening its end-to-end payments infrastructure.
Quarterly Revenue Performance
For the quarter ended Q2 FY26, One 97 Communications reported revenue from operations of ₹2,061 crore, compared with ₹1,659 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, reflecting continued growth across its payments and merchant services businesses.
Impact on Profitability
Net profit for the quarter declined sharply to ₹21 crore from ₹930 crore in Q2 FY25. The company attributed the drop largely to the absence of a one-time gain recorded in the base quarter, along with an impairment loss recognised during the latest reporting period.
Business Context
The ESOP grant and regulatory clearance for PPSL underscore Paytm’s focus on strengthening internal capabilities and expanding regulated payment services, even as near-term profitability reflects the normalisation of exceptional items from the previous year.
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