No new ED notice, clarifies Paytm as shares drop

Mumbai:  Financial services major Paytm on Friday said it has not received any new notice from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) related to an ongoing investigation into a cryptocurrency scam.

In a filing, the company responded to emails send by the stock exchanges, saying the case dates back to September 2022 and is not connected to Paytm or its subsidiaries.

In their emails, the BSE and the NSE had sought clarification from the company amid claims about an ED investigation.

According to claims in earlier media reports, Paytm, along with other payment gateways, was under investigation for allegedly facilitating a large-scale crypto scam.

“We would like to clarify that there is no investigation into the Company or its subsidiaries. The ED’s probe is focused on third-party merchants, not Paytm,” the company said in a BSE filing.

The scam reportedly involved more than Rs 2,200 crore collected from investors across 20 states, under the pre-tense of cryptocurrency mining investments. The funds were then allegedly sent out of the country, with a portion of these funds frozen by the ED during the transaction process.

After the reports emerged, Paytm’s stock tanked to Rs 773.05 per share during the intra-day trading. However, it recovered slightly and was trading at Rs 814.4, down by nearly 4 per cent around 2 pm.

In Q3 FY25, the parent company of Paytm, One97 Communications Limited, clocked a surge in operating revenue by 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 1,828 crore, driven by its payments business and expanding financial services distribution portfolio.

The company reported a PAT improvement of Rs 208 crore QoQ to Rs (208) crore, while its cash reserves increased by Rs 2,851 crore QoQ to Rs 12,850 crore.

–IANS