Paytm founders settle disclosure violation case with Sebi

Mumbai: Paytm's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, his brother Ajay Shekhar Sharma and the listed entity for the payments company One 97 Communications have settled a disclosure violation case with market regulator Sebi by paying ₹2.79 crore as a settlement amount.

The two siblings have also agreed to forgo their ESOPs (employee stock options). Additionally, Vijay has agreed not to accept any fresh ESOPs from any listed company for three years, while Ajay will disgorge ₹35 lakh to Sebi as part of the settlement agreement.

In October 2021, Sebi had noticed that One 97 Communications(OCL) had granted 2.1 crore ESOPs to Vijay and 2.2 lakh ESOPs to Ajay in May 2022.

Following which on February 9, 2024, it issued show cause notices to the brothers and the company.

The regulator alleged that Vijay was disclosed as the promoter of OCL in the annual returns of the company filed with the registrar of companies prior to the FY21.