What’s Happening with Paytm (One97 Communications) and Vijay Shekhar Sharma?

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the CEO of Paytm's parent company (One97 Communications), decided to give up 2.1 crore shares that were earlier given to him under an employee stock plan (called ESOP) when the company first got listed. These shares were part of his rewards from the company. By giving them up, the company will have to record a big cost (Rs 492 crore) now in their accounts for the Jan-Mar 2025 quarter. Normally, when companies give ESOPs (Employee Stock Options), they record the cost gradually over several years — like spreading it out slowly on their books. But because Vijay Shekhar Sharma gave up his shares all at once, the accounting rules say: You have to immediately recognize all the remaining cost of those ESOPs at once. This leads to a big, one-time expense (Rs 492 crore) being recorded in that quarter itself (Q4 FY 2025). But in the future, the company’s costs will be lower because these shares are now canceled. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, his brother Ajay Shekhar Sharma, and Paytm have agreed to pay Rs 2.79 crore to settle a case with SEBI (the stock market regulator). SEBI said they had misreported some facts and broke rules about how shareholders were classified.