Section 34
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founded One 97 Communications, whose Paytm app brought digital payments to crores of Indians. (Paytm (One 97 Communications))
- life
- Born 1978
- era
- 2010 to now
- ₹18,300 crore
- IPO size · 2021
- 33.7 crore (337 million)
- Registered consumers (as of 30 June 2021) · 2021
The story
Vijay Shekhar Sharma comes from Aligarh. He founded One 97 Communications in 2000, which later built Paytm, offering payments, a payments bank, insurance, investments, ticketing and loans.
By 30 June 2021 Paytm said it had 337 million registered consumers and 21.8 million registered merchants. Its public issue in November 2021 raised Rs 18,300 crore, described at the time as India's biggest tech IPO, and the shares listed on 18 November 2021.
Setbacks followed. The Reserve Bank of India stopped Paytm Payments Bank from taking new customers in March 2022. On 31 January 2024 the RBI ordered it to stop most services, including deposits and top-ups, citing 'persistent non-compliance and continued material supervisory concerns'. Sharma resigned as non-executive chairman of the bank in February 2024, and Paytm said it would move its services to other partner banks.
Timeline
- 2000Founds One 97 Communications.
- 2021Public issue of Rs 18,300 crore opens on 8 November.
- 2021Shares list on 18 November.
- 2022RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from adding new customers (March).
- 2024RBI orders Paytm Payments Bank to stop most services (31 January).
- 2024Resigns as non-executive chairman of Paytm Payments Bank (February).