When he becomes leadership, can Vijay Shekhar Sharma resolve Paytm’s problems?
May 8, New Delhi Due to high-profile withdrawals, the RBI’s prohibition on various Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. (PPBL) services, and recent concerns regarding some lending partners rescinding loan guarantees because of client payback problems, Paytm’s stock has dropped by around 50% this year.
The Paytm stock broke its all-time low of Rs 318 on February 16 of this year and finished at Rs 317.15 on Wednesday, marking a further 5% fall.
The market capitalization of One 97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, has dropped to around $2.5 billion as the share price keeps falling amid new uncertainty.
When the biggest player in digital payment services had its initial public offering (IPO) in 2021, its valuation was close to $20 billion. Since then, the stock has been falling, particularly after the Central Bank took action against certain of Paytm Payments Bank’s services in January of this year.
Top-level departures at Paytm continue in the meantime.
Three CBOs have resigned amid “ongoing restructuring”: Bipin Kaul, CBO of offline payments; Sandeepan Kashyap, CBO of the consumer payments vertical; and Ajay Vikram Singh, CBO of the UPI and user growth vertical.
Following the abrupt departure of Bhavesh Gupta, President and COO of Paytm, who is taking a career sabbatical for “personal reasons” and would be moving into an advisory position, these top executives moved on.
Reports state that Praveen Sharma, senior vice president of business, One 97 Communications’ top marketing officer, and Paytm Payments Bank’s MD and CEO, Surinder Chawla, are among the other executives departing the firm in recent months.
Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma is now heavily in control amidst the turmoil, working closely with the new top leadership.
“As we go through a restructuring initiative that signals a reinvigorated approach under Paytm’s CEO, we are committed to ensuring sustained growth across key business verticals.” The business released a statement, saying, “These adjustments are a part of our strategy to support Paytm’s next generation of leaders.”
In order to develop a sizable and lucrative payment and financial services distribution business, the firm intends to grow its executive team. “These robust leaders will work directly with the CEO and other senior management leaders, fostering innovation and strengthening the group structure for sustainability and regulatory compliance,” the business said.
