Despite Rs 1217 Crore Loss, Paytm Rolled Out ESOPs, Incentives Worth Rs 564 Crore For Top Management

Online companies like Paytm and Zomato have been recording losses in their share prices since their listing on the stock exchanges. Despite recording losses, these digital new-age companies have been spending a lot on key managerial troops through stock based payments.

Hundreds of crores have been spent on the top management of these two digital companies in the first half of the financial year 2022-23, as per transaction disclosures by related parties.

Starting with Paytm, the digital company has been seeing a losing streak in its share prices since its debut on the stock exchanges.

However, the digital payment services provider has been reported to have its employee stock option or ESOP expenses in the first half of FY23, i.e. from April to September 2022 period standing at Rs 564 crore.

The ESOP expenses of Paytm has been accounted to key managerial personnel or KMPs, their relatives and then the directors of the company. 

The scale of payments made by Paytm in giving away salaries, bonuses and incentives to only the KMPs of the company during the underlined period is worth Rs 5.2 crore.

Now coming to the online food aggregator company Zomato, the expenses it made towards paying the KMPs in the first half of the ongoing fiscal is recorded at Rs 380 crore.

This figure is reported after the company posted a net loss of Rs 435 crore in H1 (first half) of FY23. For the same period, Paytm recorded a whopping loss of Rs 1,217 crore.

It has been reported that company founders are known to be the biggest beneficiaries of big-sized company’s stock-based payment perks.

In other news, Paytm’s lending and financial services arm Paytm Payments Services (PPSL)’ application for a payment aggregator license from the RBI.

Paytm said in its filing to the stock exchanges that RBI has asked PPSL to reapply for the  payment aggregator application within 120 calendar days or four months’ time.