Paytm parent One 97 Communications settles Esop case with Sebi

May 8, 2025

Synopsis
Paytm and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma settled an employee stock options violation case with SEBI. Sharma is barred from receiving new Esops from any listed company for three years as part of the settlement.

One 97 Communications (OCL), the parent company of digital payments platform Paytm, has settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over stock allocations under its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (Esop) involving founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. The settlement was announced on May 8.

Key details of the settlement:

Bar on Esops: Vijay Shekhar Sharma will be barred from accepting new Esops from any listed company for the next three years.

Fines: Sebi imposed a cumulative fine of approximately Rs 2.8 crore on three parties: OCL, Vijay Shekhar Sharma (VSS), and his brother Ajay Shekhar Sharma (Ajay).

Cancellation of ESOPs:

21 million Esops granted to VSS were cancelled.

222,862 ESOPs granted to Ajay were also cancelled.

Financial penalties:

Rs 1.1 crore each on VSS and OCL.

Rs 57 lakh on Ajay.

Recovery of gains: Rs 35 lakh was recovered from the sale of 3,720 shares of OCL by Ajay.

OCL has confirmed that it has complied with all the terms imposed by Sebi.

ET first reported on April 17 that OCL and the Sharma brothers had agreed to pay a fine of Rs 2.79 crore for violations during Paytm’s IPO. Ahead of the listing, VSS reclassified himself as a ‘non-promoter’ by reducing his stake to below 10%. However, Sebi noted that VSS devised a scheme to retain control by transferring 30.9 million shares to a family trust while effectively maintaining influence over the company.

[The Economic Times]