One 97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, has approved a fresh grant of employee stock options (ESOPs) under its existing employee incentive framework.
According to a stock exchange filing, the company stated that its Nomination and Remuneration Committee sanctioned the grant of 1,23,908 stock options to eligible employees under the One 97 Employees Stock Option Scheme 2019.
The committee granted the approval on January 3, 2026, through circulation. Under the terms of the scheme, each stock option is convertible into one fully paid-up equity share with a face value of Rs 1, at an exercise price of Rs 9 per option.
Based on Paytm’s Friday closing share price of approximately Rs 1,340.4, the newly issued ESOPs carry an estimated notional value of around Rs 16.7 crore. At the same time, the company disclosed that 4,25,702 stock options lapsed during the reported period. Moreover, the filing confirmed that there was no vesting, exercise, cancellation, or variation in the terms of options during this interval.
Additionally, the company clarified that the equity shares issued upon the exercise of these options will not be subject to any lock-in period. The ESOP scheme remains fully compliant with the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021, and it includes detailed provisions addressing corporate actions as well as the treatment of options in events such as resignation, retirement, termination, death, or permanent incapacity.
Separately, One 97 Communications highlighted a significant regulatory development in its payments business. Paytm Payments Services Limited, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, has received authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a payment aggregator for physical or offline payments and cross-border transactions.
With this regulatory clearance, the subsidiary now holds payment aggregator approvals across online, offline, and cross-border segments, thereby enabling it to provide payment aggregation services for a broader range of merchant use cases.
On the financial front, One 97 Communications reported revenue from operations of Rs 2,061 crore in Q2 FY26, marking an increase from Rs 1,659 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter last year.
However, net profit for the quarter declined sharply to Rs 21 crore, compared with Rs 930 crore in Q2 FY25, primarily due to the absence of a one-time gain in the base quarter and the recognition of an impairment loss in the latest reporting period.
