Paytm Expands ESOP Pool With Additional 87K Stock Options

Listed fintech major Paytm’s board on Saturday (May 4) approved the allotment of 87,373 stock options under its Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) 2019.

“… The nomination and remuneration committee of the board of the Company, on May 4, 2024… approved the allotment of 87,373 equity shares having a face value of INR 1 each, as fully paid-up, to the eligible employees, upon exercise of vested options under ESOP 2019,” the company disclosed in a BSE filing.

With this, the company’s share capital will now stand at INR 63,57,92,534. The fintech major has set the exercise price per share for stock options under its ESOP 2019 scheme at INR 9, a premium of INR 8 apiece. 

This comes nearly a year after the fintech major earmarked an additional 1.7 Mn stock options for its employees in 2023. 

It is pertinent to note that stock options are a form of incentive under which employees are offered company stocks, which can be encashed after a specific period at a predetermined value. Stock options help companies retain talent, boost productivity and attract new talent to the firm. 

The announcement of the fresh ESOPs came on the same day as the company’s parent, One97 Communications, announced a major reshuffle at its top deck. The company’s president and COO Bhavesh Gupta has tendered his resignation citing “personal reasons” while ex-Fisdom senior executive Rakesh Singh has been roped in as the CEO of wealthtech arm Paytm Money.

Meanwhile, outgoing Paytm Money CEO Varun Sridhar has been appointed as the new CEO of Paytm Services Private Limited.

The fintech major has been mired in a slew of controversies for the past few months. In January, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed multiple restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank and barred it from onboarding new users and from offering various services, including UPI payments and deposits. 

On top of that, the fintech juggernaut has seen a slew of top-level exits in the past four months including the likes of chief marketing officer (CMO) Sumit Mathur as well as senior vice president Praveen Sharma.

As a result, Paytm’s stock has been on a freefall on the bourses. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the fintech’s stock is down more than 41%. Shares of Paytm closed 0.38% lower at INR 370.20 on the BSE on Friday (May 3).

With the latest allotment, Paytm has become the latest Indian new-age tech company to shore up its ESOP scheme. In April, sleep solutions startup The Sleep Company rolled out the second tranche of its ESOP buyback scheme worth INR 2.4 Cr while audio entertainment juggernaut Pocket FM executed its first ESOP buyback programme worth $8.3 Mn.