Paytm shares slide 10% as PIDF worries hit sentiment

What triggered the sharp fall in One97 Communications

Shares of One97 Communications Ltd, the parent of the Paytm brand, fell nearly 10% on Friday, January 23, 2026, in their steepest single-day decline in more than a year. The stock dropped to a three-month low, extending losses for the fourth time in the last five trading sessions. On the BSE, the stock fell as much as ₹1,134.25 during the session and closed at ₹1,140.75. A CNBC TV-18 report linked the move to investor concerns around the Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) scheme. The market focus was on whether the RBI-backed scheme would be extended beyond December 2025, as there was no confirmed extension at the time of the report. The same report said the PIDF scheme contributes about 20% to operating profit. The fall came ahead of Paytm’s Q3 FY26 results, scheduled for January 29.

Why the PIDF scheme became a flashpoint

PIDF is a scheme aimed at incentivising the deployment of digital payment infrastructure. The reported lack of clarity on the scheme’s continuation beyond December 2025 added to concerns about the regulatory environment for payments-led businesses. The market reaction reflected sensitivity to changes that may affect unit economics for merchant payments and related infrastructure. The reported contribution of PIDF to operating profit amplified the attention on the scheme’s timeline. Investors also weighed the broader backdrop of regulatory scrutiny that has shaped the company’s payments narrative in recent years. The stock’s drop to levels last seen in October 2025 underscored how quickly sentiment can turn on policy-linked triggers. The episode highlighted the role of policy clarity in valuing payments businesses, especially those operating at scale. It also showed that regulatory uncertainty can dominate near-term price action even when longer-term operating milestones are in progress.

Business reshuffle: offline merchant payments to move to PPSL

One97 Communications said it will transfer its offline merchant payments business to Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), its wholly-owned subsidiary, by December 31, 2025. The move is significant because PPSL sits at the centre of Paytm’s payments processing and merchant onboarding framework. Investors have tracked the structure closely as licensing and compliance conditions influence how the group operates. The planned transfer timeline coincides with the PIDF scheme’s current end date of December 2025, a linkage the market has discussed in the context of payments economics. While the company has laid out the transfer plan, the stock’s movement suggested investors were still assessing how the operating model evolves under shifting regulatory conditions. The reorganisation also kept attention on the relative roles of One97 Communications and its payments subsidiaries.

Block trades add supply pressure and keep the stock volatile

Paytm’s stock also saw repeated bouts of large secondary transactions. One97 Communications experienced a block trade on the BSE involving 18.66 million shares. In that transaction, Societe Generale bought over 67 lakh shares worth ₹720 crore at ₹1,067.50 per share, while My Asian Opportunities Master Fund LP acquired 35 lakh shares worth ₹374 crore. Separately, Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V. was set to sell up to 3.7 million shares (5.84%) of One97 Communications in a block deal worth approximately ₹3,803.30 crore. In another session described as “today’s trade”, shares were down about 2% near ₹1,305 on the NSE after a large deal, with 15.41 million shares representing 2.4% of total equity changing hands. The buyers and sellers in that deal were not immediately ascertained.

Reports on likely sellers and the floor price discount

According to reports cited in the provided text, SAIF III Mauritius, SAIF Partners and Elevation Capital were likely to sell Paytm’s 2% stake through a block. The reports said the sellers aimed to raise up to ₹1,639.7 crore from the transaction. The floor price was fixed at ₹1,281 per share, representing a 3.9% discount to Monday’s closing price. The existence of a discounted floor price is often watched by traders as it can influence near-term supply-demand dynamics. The reported scale of shares offered and the discount helped explain the muted tone in the stock during that session. In the broader fintech basket, a separate headline also pointed to weakness, with Pine Labs falling 3% and One Mobikwik down 1% after a report on Apple Pay’s India plans.

Regulatory update: RBI ‘in-principle’ approval for PPSL

One97 Communications said the Reserve Bank of India granted ‘in-principle’ approval to its payment services unit to operate as an online payment aggregator, as per a stock exchange filing. The approval came more than two years after Paytm was initially denied the licence in November 2022, due to non-compliance with India’s rules on receiving investments from countries that share a land border. Without the licence, Paytm was barred from onboarding new online merchants. At the time of the earlier denial, the company said the restriction had “no material impact” on its business or revenues, according to the provided text. At the company’s annual general meeting last September, founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said he intended to reapply for the payment aggregator licence.

Investor exits: Ant Group and Berkshire Hathaway in the spotlight

The RBI’s ‘in-principle’ approval was reported to have come a week after China’s Ant Group exited Paytm by selling its remaining 5.8% direct stake in One97 Communications for $154 million through block deals. The text also noted an earlier change in 2023, when Ant Financial sold a 10.3% stake worth $128 million to Sharma in a no-cash deal. Separately, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway exited its Paytm investment, with the provided text citing a reported loss of ₹630 crore. Berkshire’s initial investment was described as approximately $100 million, equivalent to around ₹2,200 crore, for a 2.6% stake in One97 Communications in August 2018. Another excerpt in the supplied material described the original stake as 3% and said Berkshire later sold its remaining 2.46% stake for around $165 million in November 2023. Taken together, these exits reinforced the view that large shareholders have continued to reduce exposure, adding to periodic supply through block trades.

Stock and financial snapshot: what the numbers show

Paytm’s IPO issue price was ₹2,150 per share. The stock debuted on November 18, 2021, at ₹1,950 and closed the first day at ₹1,359.60, as per the provided text. As of December 31, 2025, the stock was trading at ₹1,297, reflecting a decline of nearly 40% from the issue price, while also showing a year-to-date return of 31.33% (as stated). On the operating side, One 97 Paytm’s consolidated December 2025 net sales were reported at ₹2,194.00 crore, up 20.04% year-on-year. Motilal Oswal carried a “Neutral” view with a target price of ₹1,275, according to the provided headlines. The material also flagged ownership shifts, stating that domestic mutual funds pared their stake in the October to December quarter and that FII/FPI shareholding decreased in the last quarter.

Other governance and compliance headlines investors tracked

The supplied text also referenced an Enforcement Directorate (ED) show-cause notice alleging FEMA violations involving aggregate transactions worth over ₹611 crore related to acquisitions of subsidiaries. The company’s filing said the alleged contraventions attributable to two acquired companies related to a period when these were not subsidiaries of One97 Communications. Paytm said it was seeking legal advice and evaluating remedies, and that services to consumers and merchants remained fully operational. Separately, the material referenced the resignation of president and chief operating officer Bhavesh Gupta, with an official statement saying he decided to take a career break due to personal reasons and would transition to an advisory role until the end of the year, with relief on May 31. The company had estimated a ₹300-500 crore loss due to the RBI’s restriction on Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL), according to the provided text. These headlines have contributed to periodic spikes in volatility, alongside regulatory and ownership developments.

Why the story matters for investors

The sequence of price falls, scheme-related concerns, and repeated block deals shows that Paytm’s stock remains tightly linked to regulatory signals and shareholder flows. The PIDF extension uncertainty was explicitly cited as a key driver of the sharp January 23 move, illustrating how policy-related earnings sensitivity can influence valuations. Meanwhile, the ‘in-principle’ online payment aggregator approval for PPSL is a meaningful operational milestone because it relates to onboarding new online merchants, a point highlighted in the provided material. At the same time, the steady stream of secondary sales by large investors, including Ant-related entities and other funds named in reports, can affect near-term trading dynamics through supply. The combination of operating updates and ownership changes has kept the stock in focus across both institutional and retail investors.

Conclusion

One97 Communications’ sharp January 23, 2026 fall put the spotlight back on PIDF-related uncertainty and the market’s sensitivity to regulatory timelines. Alongside that, a series of block trades and investor exits continued to shape day-to-day price action. Investors were also tracking the planned transfer of offline merchant payments to PPSL by December 31, 2025 and the RBI’s ‘in-principle’ approval for PPSL to operate as an online payment aggregator. The next near-term checkpoint mentioned in the provided text was Paytm’s Q3 FY26 results, scheduled for January 29.