We could have done better, no secret about it: Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma acknowledged that the company has learnt its lessons and could have handled responsibilities differently.

This comes nearly five months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank, an associate entity of One97 Communications (OCL), which operates brand Paytm.

Sharma also added that once a company is publicly listed, it brings in a sense of responsibility and maturity for the firm.

“I believe we were getting matured, and going towards full profitability, making free cash, and so on. At a professional level, we should have done better and there is no secret about it. We had responsibilities and we should have fulfilled them much better. We learnt our lesson,” Sharma said while speaking at the seventh JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation (JIIF), an annual innovation conclave in Delhi.

In January this year, the banking regulator placed crippling restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank citing persistent non-compliance at the bank.

Operations at the payments bank have come to a standstill after most of its businesses were impacted by the RBI direction.

“The important thing is the kind of lessons as a technology company we had to learn. We just did not show up to those lessons. Well, now we can say that we are far better than what we were,” Sharma added.

OCL listed itself on the Indian bourses in 2021.

On the day of listing, the stock was at a 9 per cent discount on the bourses, debuting at Rs 1,955 per share.

Soon after, it had crashed 27 per cent against the issue price of Rs 2,150 per share.

“Public markets matter since there is a responsibility towards shareholders, but also because public markets are beyond us.

As a company, we work hard in the business market, and the public market will understand. In due course, all the things that may get discounted do get sorted out,” Sharma added.

At the end of Friday’s session, Paytm stock was trading at Rs 438 a share, a 36.6 per cent decline in price over the past six months.

“If you ask me, we have an investor called Masayoshi Son (CEO of SoftBank). I have learnt a lot about Masayoshi Son, and many other people who are very rich in the world, whose crash-landed stock prices have created histories. Incidentally, Masayoshi lost 99 per cent of his wealth, which is different in order of magnitude, and learned how he handled it,” he said.