Paytm parent One 97 Communications grants ESOPs worth ₹16.6 crore; here’s how stock reacts
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One 97 Communications , the parent company of fintech major Paytm, has cleared the issuance of 1,23,908 fresh employee stock options under its ESOP Scheme 2019. At Paytm’s last closing price of ₹1,340.70 per share on the BSE, the total value of these stock options works out to around ₹16.6 crore.
Reacting to the news, Paytm shares jumped as much as 1.2% to hit a high of ₹1,357.35 in early trade on the BSE. The fintech stock opened 0.7% lower at ₹1,331.30 but soon pared losses to trade in positive territory.
At the time of reporting, Paytm shares were trading at ₹1,343.05, up 0.18%, with a market capitalisation of ₹85,893 crore.
Paytm shares touched their 52-week high of ₹1,381.75 on January 2, 2026, rebounding 111% from the 52-week low of ₹652.30 touched on March 11, 2025. The stock has delivered a return of 38% over the past one year and 45% over six months, while it has delivered flat returns over the past one month.
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In an exchange filing on January 3, 2026, One 97 Communications said, “The Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board of the Company has approved the allotment of 1,88,879 equity shares having a face value of ₹1 each, as fully paid-up, to the eligible employees, upon exercise of vested options under the One 97 Employees Stock Option Scheme 2019.”
Following this allotment, the company’s issued, subscribed, and paid-up equity share capital increased to ₹63.97 crore from ₹63.95 crore. The total number of outstanding equity shares rose from 63.95 crore to 63.97 crore.
The ESOP grant comes after a key regulatory milestone for One 97 Communications’ subsidiary, Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL). Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted PPSL approval to operate as a payment aggregator, enabling the company to scale up offline merchant payments and expand into cross-border payment services that support international commerce.
In August 2025, PPSL had received in-principle approval from the RBI to function as an online payment aggregator under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
Paytm had originally applied for the payment aggregator licence in 2020 but faced regulatory hurdles. The application was rejected by the central bank in 2022 due to non-compliance with foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, a setback that curtailed merchant onboarding and limited expansion of its user base.
A payment aggregator licence allows a fintech company to process online payments on behalf of merchants. It enables non-banking entities to act as intermediaries between customers and merchants by collecting payments from customers, pooling them, and settling the amounts with merchants after reconciliation.
For the September quarter of FY26, One 97 Communications, the parent of Paytm, reported a 24% year-on-year (YoY) increase in operating revenue to ₹2,061 crore, driven by growth in merchant subscriptions, higher gross merchandise value (GMV), and an expanding financial services distribution business.
The company reported a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹21 crore for the quarter, which includes a one-time impairment charge of ₹190 crore. EBITDA for the quarter rose to ₹142 crore, while margins stood at 7%. Contribution profit increased 35% YoY to ₹1,207 crore, with margins improving to 59%.
Segment-wise, payment services revenue grew 25% YoY to ₹1,223 crore, supported by a 27% rise in GMV to ₹5.67 lakh crore. Merchant subscriptions climbed to 1.37 crore, an increase of 25 lakh over the past year.
Financial services distribution revenue surged 63% YoY to ₹611 crore, aided by strong growth in merchant loans and improved collection efficiency. During the quarter, 6.5 lakh users availed themselves of Paytm’s financial services offerings.
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