Paytm is India's largest mobile payments commerce platform, courtesy of some revolutionised decisions made by its Founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar, in recent years. The technology entrepreneur is among the wealthiest people in the financial technology e-commerce sector. As per Paytm's official website, more than 20 million merchants and businesses are powered by Paytm to accept digital payments.
More than 300 Indians use Paytm to pay their bills, do recharges, send money, book movie tickets, recharge metro cards, and so on. However, it received a major shock in February 2024 when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited Paytm Payments Bank from adding new users and also restricted the bank from accepting new credit transactions and deposits. Not only this, RBI also barred Paytm Payments Bank from allowing new top-ups in customer accounts, FASTags, prepaid instruments, and NCMC cards along with wallets.
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The measures mentioned above will be effective after February 29, 2024. For the unversed, RBI imposed such strong measures on Paytm Payments Bank due to multiple 'persistent non-compliance issues'. As soon as the news broke out, Paytm shares crashed 20% to a lower circuit, erasing around 1.2 billion USD in value from the company, One 97 Communications, due to the extreme measures taken by the RBI.
Talking about the impact of these restrictions on Paytm users, they will not face any sort of difficulty in making UPI transactions. The Paytm users can withdraw or transfer funds from their Paytm wallets and Payments Bank even after February 29 but will not be allowed to receive credits after the given date. While users will continue to avail cashback and refunds, no further top-ups will be allowed to be made in FASTags, NCMC Cards and other prepaid instruments.
Now, all eyes are on the Founder and CEO of Paytm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and it will be interesting to see his reaction to RBI's orders. Born on June 7, 1978, in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, Vijay Shekhar's father was a teacher, while his mother was a homemaker. The billionaire completed his schooling in Harduaganj, and for graduation, he went to Delhi and was admitted to the Delhi College of Engineering.
By the age of 19, he had completed his B.Tech degree and three years after completing his graduation, Vijay Shekhar Sharma started his own company, One97 Communications. For the unversed, during his college days, Vijay Shekhar had created a dot-com company by the name, indiasite.com, which was a platform where people could find information about the best tourist destinations, information about Indian festivals and some of the best clubs, parks, hospitals, educational institutes, and much more all at just one place. Vijay Shekhar Sharma's experience with indiasite.com helped him immensely in his decisions for One97 Communications.
Coming back to Vijay Shekhar Sharma's One97 Communications, it was a one-stop destination for people, who would love to download ringtones, jokes, information about certain topics and know about live cricket scores of Test matches. However, it was in 2003 when Vijay Shekhar ran out of money to run his business. It was when he decided to take a job in order to keep his business running. The entrepreneur started working, and at the age of 27, he was making just Rs. 10,000 per month.
It was in 2004, when, despite numerous efforts, Vijay Shekhar Sharma was unable to generate funds for the company, one of his close friends agreed to purchase 40% shares of One97 Communications for Rs. 8 lakhs. It was a tough decision for Vijay because no entrepreneur would want to sell such a big margin of shares. Well, no doubt, Vijay's situation was a bit complex, and it was the moment's need. Although the entrepreneur has managed to save his business from falling apart, but it was a tricky phase for him and One97 Communications.
At that time, while Vijay Shekhar Sharma was struggling to build a stable company on the professional front, his parents were also worried about his marriage as no one was interested in his profile. Finally, it was in 2005 when Vijay Shekhar tied the marital knot to a girl named Mridula. The lovely couple embraced parenthood when Mridula gave birth to a baby boy whom they had named Vivaan.
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After Mridula entered Vijay Shekhar Sharma's life, things started improving for the entrepreneur. As per multiple media reports, just like every doting wife in the world, Mridula stood with her husband and supported him in his every decision. It was due to their shared courage that Vijay had invested heavily in his company within just two years of their marriage. In the year 2008, Vijay saw a major jump in his revenue as his earnings touched the one-crore mark.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Mridula got married in 2005, and exactly five years after their wedding, the former founded Paytm in 2010 and entered into India's financial technology e-commerce sector. The entrepreneur was well aware of the power of the 3G network, which was enabled in India in December 2008. Capitalising on the situation, Paytm managed to set up over 15 million wallets within the first 10 months of its launch.
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Vijay Shekhar Sharma was having one of the best phases of his life. While on the professional front, the newly digital section of society was falling in love with Paytm, the entrepreneur was also leading a happy marriage with his wife, Mridula. However, it was on November 8, 2016, when Prime Minister, Narendra Modi announced demonetisation in India, and it saw a 700% jump in Paytm's transactions. In just two years, Vijay Shekhar Sharma's company reached a valuation of 10 billion USD.
According to Forbes, Paytm's Founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma had an estimated net worth of around 1.2 billion USD (Rs. 98,12,95,20,000) in 2022. As per the same report, Vijay was earning Rs. 4 crore annually in 2022, a number which would only increase in the coming years. According to a report in companiesmarketcap.com, Paytm is the world's 2321th most valuable company and has an estimated market cap of 5.83 billion USD.
What are your thoughts on Mridula's role in Vijay Shekhar Sharma's journey from earning Rs. 10,000 per month to making Rs. 4 crore annually in 2022? Let us know.
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