Paytm shares jump 5.6%, hit 52-week high; check what the firm said on Vijay Shekhar Sharma's pay

One 97 Communications, the parent firm of fintech firm Paytm, was buzzing in trade on Tuesday, August 25. The stock jumped as much as 5.6% to hit a fresh 52-week high of ₹1,714.90 on the NSE.

Data show that the scrip has rallied 8% over the past five sessions, over 31% in the past one month, and more than 49% over the past six months.

The latest leg of the rally comes after a series of positive developments for the fintech major.

In July, Paytm reported a 79% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit to ₹220 crore for Q1 FY27, while revenue from operations rose 27.6%. The company has also indicated that it expects FY27 revenue growth to exceed the 22% growth reported in FY26.

Besides, a potential tailwind for Paytm is the government’s move to create a legal framework for reintroducing MDR on select UPI transactions, which could open up a new revenue stream for digital payment platforms.

The proposed framework is expected to cover only a limited set of higher-value merchant transactions, while keeping UPI free for consumers and most merchants.

A proposal under consideration could levy an MDR of 0.3–0.5% on transactions above ₹2,000 by large merchants; although these transactions account for only around 4% of UPI volumes, they represent nearly 67% of transaction value.

According to news reports, analysts estimate that such a move could create a ₹5,000–10,000 crore revenue pool for the payments industry, potentially benefiting players such as Paytm.

MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) is a small fee charged to merchants when customers make digital payments. It is typically a percentage of the transaction value and is shared among the payment platform, banks, and other intermediaries involved in processing the payment.

Paytm block deal

Last week, a clutch of foreign and domestic institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, and Societe Generale, together bought a 3% stake in One97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of Paytm, for ₹2,949 crore through open market transactions.

Other foreign investors that bought shares included Ghisallo Capital Management, Oxbow Capital Management, North Rock Capital Management, Viridian Asset Management, Vittoria Fund-OC - a hedge fund owned by Pathstone Family Office LLC, and Integrated Core Strategies (Asia) Pte Ltd.

These entities acquired a total of 1,92,10,110 equity shares, representing a 3% stake in the Noida-based One97 Communications Ltd, according to the block deal data on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Domestic institutional investors, including SBI Mutual Fund (MF), Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, HDFC MF, Kotak Mahindra MF, HSBC MF, Sundaram MF and Tata MF, also participated in the transaction.

Among insurers, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company and Tata AIA Life Insurance also purchased the shares of the fintech firm.

Other key updates

The board of One 97 Communications Ltd has proposed revising the salary of its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, after an independent benchmarking exercise found his existing compensation to be ‘materially below’ comparable roles.

Sharma’s base remuneration remained unchanged since August 19, 2022, with no increments, after his reappointment as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to the company.

The company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) notice also states that Sharma had "voluntarily requested to keep his remuneration unchanged".

Sharma took home a total of ₹4.33 crore in remuneration in FY26, lower than the ₹4.5 crore in FY25, including perquisites, and had also voluntarily forgone his 2.10 crore ESOPs in 2025, and currently does not hold any ESOPs in the company.

Sharma’s proposed remuneration remains modest compared with some of its listed fintech peers, a PTI report said.