Senior executives at One97 Communications, the company behind Payhave submitted fines to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to resolve charges of regulatory violations. The allegations relate to providing benefits to Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and his family members, and approving and signing public offer documents containing inaccurate information and incomplete information about the promoter entity.
The settlement order was issued by Sebi on January 17. The settlement amount proposed by the SEBI advisory committee was subsequently approved by the panel of full-time members.
Former Chief Compliance Officer Amit Khera and several former board members, including independent directors Ashit Ranjit Lilani, Neeraj Arora, Mark Schwartz and Pallavi Shardul Shroff, as well as former directors Douglas Feagin, Munish Varma and Ravi Chandra Adusumalli, collectively settled the allegations. violations of listing regulations and public issue regulations of the market regulator by paying over Rs 3.32 crore.
The regulator’s six-page order said Khera failed to ensure compliance with the regulatory provisions applicable to the listed entity as per the LODR Regulations, 2015. Moreover, independent directors Lilani and Arora, who are part of the NRC, did not did not fulfill their functions. impartially and independently while making decisions related to the benefits of the company’s Managing Director and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and his relatives, as stated in the order.
The market regulator issued a show cause notice in May 2024, accusing the NRC of neglecting its duties impartially and independently. Additionally, former board members allegedly approved and signed offering documents containing inaccurate statements and inadequate information.
The offering documents were approved and signed by the directors, although they contain incorrect representations and incomplete information, as observed. Subsequently, their applications were presented to the Sebi Internal Committee during its meeting on August 27, 2024.
