Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm grants ESOPs worth Rs 16.7 crore to eligible employees

One 97 Communications, the parent entity of Paytm, has approved a fresh grant of employee stock options (ESOP) under its existing ESOP framework.

In a stock exchange filing, the company said its Nomination and Remuneration Committee approved the grant of 1,23,908 stock options to eligible employees under the One 97 Employees Stock Option Scheme 2019.

The approval was granted on January 3, 2026, through circulation. Each stock option is convertible into one fully paid-up equity share of face value Rs 1, with an exercise price of Rs 9 per option.

Based on Paytm’s Friday closing share price of around Rs 1,340.4, the newly granted ESOPs carry an approximate notional value of Rs 16.7 crore.

The company also disclosed that 4,25,702 stock options lapsed during the period. There was no vesting, exercise, cancellation, or variation of terms of options reported as part of this disclosure.

The equity shares allotted pursuant to the exercise of these options will not be subject to any lock-in. The ESOP scheme is compliant with the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021, and includes provisions covering corporate actions as well as treatment of options in events such as resignation, retirement, termination, death, or permanent incapacity.

Separately, One 97 Communications highlighted a key regulatory milestone for its payments business. Paytm Payments Services Limited, its wholly owned subsidiary, has received authorisation from the RBI to operate as a payment aggregator for physical or offline payments and cross-border transactions.

With this approval, the subsidiary now holds payment aggregator authorisations across online, offline, and cross-border segments, enabling it to offer payment aggregation services across a wider set of merchant use cases.

On the financial front, One 97 Communications reported revenue from operations of Rs 2,061 crore in the second quarter of FY26, up from Rs 1,659 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Net profit for the quarter declined sharply to Rs 21 crore from Rs 930 crore in Q2 FY25, largely due to the absence of a one-time gain in the base quarter and an impairment loss recorded in the latest period.