Paytm employees warned of potential job losses after hit from RBI probe
Paytm warned of job cuts and said it would trim non-core assets after reporting its first sales decline on record, reflecting fallout from a regulatory probe that curtailed much of the Indian fintech pioneer’s business.
Once a role model for India’s nascent startup economy, Paytm’s net losses swelled several-fold to 5.5 billion rupees ($66.1 million) for the three months through March. The company known as One 97 Communications Ltd. reported a 2.6% slide in revenue to 22.7 billion rupees — the first drop since its 2021 stock-market debut. Its shares slid as much as 2%.
Also Read: Paytm Q4 Results: Loss widens to Rs 550 crore; revenue drops 3% YoY
Paytm, founded by then-celebrated Indian entrepreneur Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010, is struggling to recover after a finance watchdog in January ordered a key banking affiliate to wind down. The restrictions dealt a blow to Paytm’s reputation and prompted speculation that customers could defect to rivals such as Walmart Inc.’s PhonePe.
On Wednesday, Paytm said it was profitable before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and before taking employee incentives into account. It warned that revenues should slide further to 15 billion to 16 billion rupees in the June quarter, but expected “meaningful improvement” thereafter. To get there, the company intended to streamline the organization, cut employee costs and “prune” non-core businesses, it said in a statement.
Paytm, which also competes with financial services offered by Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s
