Category: Technology

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a notice to Paytm owner One97 Communications Ltd (OCL) for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) linked to transactions worth over Rs 611 crore.

The case pertains to the acquisition of two subsidiaries, Little Internet Private Limited (LIPL) and Nearbuy India Private Limited (NIPL). One97 Communications (OCL), which owns Paytm brand, informed BSE that it has received FEMA violation notice from the ED on February 28 for its subsidiaries, Little Internet Private Limited and Nearbuy India Private Limited. OCL stated that it received the FEMA violation notice on February 28, targeting itself, its subsidiaries, and certain current and former directors and officers.

"This is in relation to alleged contraventions for the years 2015 to 2019," the filing said. About Rs 344.99 crore of the total Rs 611.17 crore is linked to investment transactions involving LIPL, an amount of Rs 245.20 crore pertains to OCL and the remaining Rs 20.97 crore relates to NIPL, according to an exchange filing. One97 Communications clarified that the alleged breach pertains to the period when the two companies were not its subsidiaries. The company, which acquired LIPL and NIPL in 2017, emphasized that it is addressing the matter in line with legal and regulatory requirements. "To resolve the matter in accordance with applicable laws and regulatory processes, the company is seeking necessary legal advice and evaluating appropriate remedies," the filing said.

"There is no impact on Paytm’s services to consumers and merchants, and all services remain fully operational," it added. The development comes amid regulatory scrutiny of Paytm Payments Bank, which last year denied any foreign exchange rule violations.

On January 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed Paytm Payments Bank to halt most of its operations from March 1, 2024, citing "persistent non-compliances and material supervisory concerns."

The Delhi High Court has awarded Lifestyle Equities damages of $39 million, approximately Rs 340 crore, after ruling that Amazon infringed upon its 'Beverly Hills Polo Club' trademark.

The order was passed by Justice Prathiba M Singh, and a detailed copy is awaited. According to a report in Bar and Bench, in 2020, Lifestyle Equities CV initiated a trademark infringement lawsuit against Amazon Technologies and others, alleging that they used a deceptively similar mark on apparel and other products sold on their platforms.

Specifically, it was claimed that Amazon Technologies was manufacturing and selling products under the brand 'Symbol' with the infringing mark, and Cloudtail India was also involved in the sale of these products on the Amazon.in marketplace.

The High Court initially granted an interim injunction on October 12, 2020, restraining Amazon and others from using the infringing logo and directing Amazon Seller Services to remove the infringing products from their platform.

Amazon Technologies did not appear in court and was proceeded against ex-parte. The interim injunction was confirmed and made absolute, the report added. In 2023, Cloudtail India expressed willingness to accept a decree of injunction and proposed a settlement involving damages, but mediation was unsuccessful. Cloudtail acknowledged using the infringing mark from 2015 to July 2020, with revenue from infringing products amounting to Rs 23,92,420 and a profit margin of approximately 20 per cent.

The report stated that Cloudtail's counsel argued that damages should be solely its responsibility, citing an Amazon Brand License and Distribution Agreement that placed liability on Cloudtail for any breaches.

However, Lifestyle contended that the infringing mark was not part of this agreement and that both Amazon and Cloudtail should be held liable. The court acknowledged Cloudtail's admission of liability but emphasised that Lifestyle could not be denied the opportunity to seek damages from Amazon. Based on the undisputed sales figures provided by Cloudtail, the court decreed the suit in favour of Lifestyle against Cloudtail, awarding damages of Rs 4,78,484, representing 20 per cent of the revenue from infringing products.

The court recognised Amazon Seller Services' role as an intermediary and their compliance with its directions. Since no substantive relief was sought against them, and they agreed to remove any future listings of infringing products, they were removed from the list of parties involved.

Rohan Kapoor, head of Swiggy Food Marketplace, has shed light on the key attributes he seeks in potential employees, underlining a focus on resilience, drive, authenticity, and strong character.

During a recent appearance on the Josh Talks Podcast, Kapoor articulated his belief that hiring transcends mere technical proficiency; it is more about nurturing individuals who embody these core qualities.

He stated emphatically, "Hiring is more art than science. You can have all the checklists in the world, but at the end of the day, teams aren’t built on bullet points, they’re built on people," highlighting his philosophy that effective teams are constructed around people, not just qualifications. Resilience stands out as one of the primary traits Kapoor prefers, reflecting his conviction that it is a predictor of how candidates will manage adversity in their professional roles. Kapoor said that the ability to navigate personal and professional challenges is indicative of a candidate's capacity to perform under pressure. Alongside resilience, the drive remains a critical attribute. Kapoor emphasised that while skills can be imparted, the intrinsic hunger and ambition that fuels an individual's success cannot be taught.

"You can teach skills, but you can’t teach drive. You can hand someone an opportunity, but you can’t make them hungry for it. And in an interview, you can almost always tell in the first few minutes," Kapoor remarked, pointing to the immediacy with which genuine motivation becomes evident. Authenticity also plays an essential role in Kapoor's hiring criteria. He stressed that within the first few minutes of an interview, it is usually apparent whether a candidate is genuine or projecting a façade. He values honesty and sincerity, as they often correlate with a candidate’s ability to blend well within a team. Kapoor’s approach diverges from conventional hiring practices that rely heavily on checklists and qualifications, instead valuing real human connections and interpersonal dynamics.

In addition to the aforementioned qualities, Kapoor places significant weight on character, believing it is equally as important as competence. He asserts that great teams are built on a foundation of strong character. This perspective suggests that while technical competence is necessary, it is the ethical and moral fibre of individuals that ultimately drives team success and cohesion.

Kapoor's approach positions character as a non-negotiable trait in his hiring decisions, underscoring the importance of personal integrity and ethical conduct. Kapoor's insights, shared via platforms like Instagram, reinforce his belief that successful teams are anchored by robust personal attributes rather than merely technical skills.

His hiring philosophy advocates for a balance, where the intrinsic qualities of resilience, drive, authenticity, and character are seen as the bedrock of high-performing teams. This perspective invites a broader industry reflection on how hiring practices can evolve to prioritise personal qualities alongside technical abilities, potentially leading to more cohesive and effective teams.

PhonePe, a prominent player in digital payments, has announced its initiation of the process for a potential public listing on the Indian stock exchanges, as stated in a release today.

While not specifying a specific timeline for completing the initial public offering (IPO) procedures, the company noted its favourable revenue growth and progress toward profitability as factors prompting the decision to embark on preparations for an IPO. This development follows over two years of PhonePe relocating its headquarters from Singapore to India.

Established by Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, PhonePe holds a dominant position in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) sector, commanding approximately 47% of the market share. Subsequently, the fintech startup separated its various business ventures – including insurance, international payments, and insurance distribution – into distinct subsidiary entities under the parent company.

The company stated, “PhonePe’s strong top-line and bottom-line growth across its diverse business portfolio, as detailed in its FY23-24 annual report, makes this a suitable time to prepare for a public listing.” In December 2022, PhonePe moved its main office from Singapore to India with the goal of being listed on local stock exchanges. As a result, the fintech company, led by Sameer Nigam, reorganized its corporate structure by establishing its new non-payment ventures as wholly-owned subsidiaries in anticipation of its IPO strategy.

PhonePe recently made the decision to leave the account aggregator business earlier this month and transitioned to a partnership model with existing AAs. In less than two years of obtaining its non-banking financial company AA license, the company voluntarily surrendered it to the Reserve Bank of India. By August 2024, the leading digital payments company achieved a positive adjusted profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 197 crore in FY23-24, excluding ESOP-related costs. This followed a recovery from a loss of Rs 738 crore in FY22-23. Additionally, PhonePe reported a significant 74% year-on-year revenue growth, with revenue reaching Rs 5,064 crore in the previous fiscal year, up from Rs 2,914 crore.

In the fiscal year 2024, PhonePe recorded an operating revenue of Rs 5,064 crore, with a net loss of Rs 1,996 crore. By excluding employee stock options from the financial calculations related to core business activities, the company reported a net profit of Rs 197 crore. According to a company statement, as of January 2025, PhonePe, headquartered in Bengaluru, boasts more than 590 million registered users and over 40 million merchants. The platform also facilitates over 310 million daily transactions, with an annualized total payment value (TPV) exceeding Rs 145 lakh crore.

Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other tech arms, kicked off its company-wide global layoffs on February 10.

Around 3,600 positions or about 5% of Meta’s workforce have been impacted by the mass layoffs, Bloomberg reported. The company crackdown on “low-performers” as it scours for new talent to dominate the AI race have been met with backlash from the affected employees. Several former Meta workers have spoken out on social media.

Sharing the ordeal on Blind, a platform that provides an anonymous forum and community for verified employees to discuss issues, one sacked employee slammed Meta's 'lack of empathy' in handling the layoffs. The individual was sent a termination email at 5 am. "No ERBP or Manager meeting, No Phone, No nothing. Just a email to personal account and blocked us out completely. Where the f*ck is the empathy to meet the affected and give a feedback when you labelling someone "low performer".

Many of us worked in the company for so many years! Feel so betrayed," the post read. Several employees alleged that they were let go while on medical or parental leave.

One former employee wrote, “I consistently exceeded expectations for multiple years, had a baby in 2024, and got laid off.”

According to various reports, Meta workers who were let go were notified via email. Reportedly, the company is offering US-based employees severance packages that include 16 weeks of salary, in addition two weeks for each year of service.

Every few years, a moment forces a nation to rethink its trajectory. DeepSeek, China’s latest AI breakthrough, has sparked one such reckoning in India.

The question is common: "Why can't India do what China did?" The answer, as Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu puts it, is simple: "India can, and it is not that hard."

For decades, India’s tech industry has thrived as an outsourcing hub, but global AI leadership demands more than service revenue. 

It requires fundamental research, long-term investment, and a cultural shift toward innovation. Yet, when conversations arise about India’s lag in AI, they often dissolve into blame—on reservations, on governance, on bureaucracy. 

But as Vembu points out, Chinese entrepreneurs never had it easy either. And yet, China is competing head-on with Silicon Valley.

On Reddit, an Indian student at a premier institute made a grim observation: "The ship has long sailed." He argued that China, despite being behind on hardware, has used aggressive open-source research to undermine American dominance. Indian companies, by contrast, remain stuck in low-risk, service-based AI applications.

"We have never caught any bus, train, or even cycle of the tech revolution," wrote another user. "All this self-patting is for IT service revenue. In real terms, we are nowhere near what the world is achieving."

The criticism is sharp but not unwarranted. India’s largest corporations largely avoid research-intensive fields. Government funding for non-pharma research remains scarce. The academic system prizes engineering degrees over foundational scientific inquiry.

Even at Davos 2025, HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra acknowledged the gap: "Indian companies are focusing on practical AI use cases, but they aren't yet at the cutting edge of AI research."

Meanwhile, DeepSeek has already reshaped global markets. The AI race wiped $1 trillion from Nasdaq, with Nvidia losing nearly $600 billion in valuation—its largest drop in history. The AI assistant even overtook ChatGPT on Apple’s App Store in the US and UK.

“Zomato's loss of 15% in value in less than a day has a lot to do with profit margins getting hit in high-growth q-commerce,” wrote Aviral Bhatnagar, Founder and Managing Partner of AJVC. 

His statement underscores the mounting pressures faced by Zomato, particularly through its quick commerce arm, Blinkit.

As Bhatnagar put it, “Q-commerce has started to get extremely fierce and is showing in the profit margins for Blinkit. High-growth companies swing both ways on profit growth/miss.”

The sharp decline in Zomato’s stock reflects the challenges of balancing aggressive expansion with profitability.

Blinkit posted an impressive 27.2% QoQ surge in gross order value (GOV) in Q3FY25, achieving a staggering annualized run rate of ₹31,000 crore. Yet, the costs of this growth are evident, with EBITDAM plunging to -1.3% from -0.1% in Q2, largely due to accelerated store openings and higher customer acquisition expenses.

Zomato’s core food delivery business also faced headwinds, with GOV growth coming in at 2.3% QoQ, reflecting a broad-based slowdown. The company’s management acknowledged weaker demand since November but noted steady improvement in contribution margins.

Zomato’s B2B venture, Hyperpure, continues to scale effectively. With EBITDA margins nearing breakeven, this segment remains a key contributor, highlighting Zomato’s ability to diversify beyond food delivery.

To reduce dependency on food delivery, Zomato has entered the entertainment space with a new app targeting event and movie ticketing. With ambitions to rival BookMyShow’s 60% market share, this move reflects the company’s commitment to creating a broader ecosystem.

The quick commerce business added 216 stores this quarter, surpassing the 1,000-store milestone. Blinkit’s management now targets 2,000 stores by December 2025, a year ahead of schedule. Analysts like Nuvama suggest this expansion may “hurt profitability in the short term but shall ultimately lead to bunching up of profitability in future quarters as these stores mature.”

Zomato’s core food delivery business also faced headwinds, with GOV growth coming in at 2.3% QoQ, reflecting a broad-based slowdown. The company’s management acknowledged weaker demand since November but noted steady improvement in contribution margins.

Zomato’s B2B venture, Hyperpure, continues to scale effectively. With EBITDA margins nearing breakeven, this segment remains a key contributor, highlighting Zomato’s ability to diversify beyond food delivery.

To reduce dependency on food delivery, Zomato has entered the entertainment space with a new app targeting event and movie ticketing. With ambitions to rival BookMyShow’s 60% market share, this move reflects the company’s commitment to creating a broader ecosystem.

Global brokerage firms have slashed Zomato’s target prices, with Macquarie setting a low of ₹130. Analysts warn that rising competition in q-commerce and increased digital marketing costs could further strain margins, despite promising long-term growth potential.

Quick commerce company Zepto has established a new entity, Zepto Marketplace Private Limited, to streamline its operations prior to its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). 

According to media reports, Zepto Marketplace Private Limited was officially registered on 22 October, 2024.

Currently, the company operates on a business-to-business (B2B) model. Through its Indian subsidiary, Kiranakart Technologies Pvt Ltd, which Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra co-founded, Zepto procures goods from various brands and exclusively sells them to a select group of companies through the Zepto platform.

Kiranakart Technologies operates Zepto to directly source products from brands and distribute them to a select group of companies, including Geddit Convenience, Drogheria Sellers, and Commodum Groceries. These companies are Zepto's licensee firms, who then sell the products on the application through a licensing agreement.
In comparison, competitors such as Blinkit (owned by Zomato) and Swiggy Instamart have adopted a marketplace approach that allows multiple sellers to directly list their products for consumers. It seems that Zepto is also making a similar move by registering Zepto Marketplace Private Limited on 22 October, 2024. This move may indicate a shift away from its current B2B model, bringing it closer in alignment with its publicly listed counterparts Blinkit (owned by Zomato) and Swiggy Instamart.
 
Besides, Zepto is reportedly in the final stages of preparing draft documents for an initial public offering, with plans to file them by March or April. Following approval from Singapore, the quick-commerce firm will be moving its holding entity to India, the Economic Times reported.

The company, headquartered in Bengaluru, is scheduling a board meeting on January 19 to discuss the size of the IPO, select bankers for the issue, and finalise resolutions related to the shift of the holding entity to India.

Zepto initially aimed to secure a minimum of $450 million in funding, although this figure may see adjustments leading up to the submission of the IPO draft papers. Notably, prominent Wall Street firms such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are currently engaged in discussions with Zepto regarding its upcoming IPO. 
Following a successful funding round on 22 November, Zepto amassed $350 million, elevating its total cash reserves to approximately $1.4 billion. This substantial capital infusion positions the company favorably amidst stiff competition from both established players and emerging contenders like Flipkart Minutes in the rapidly expanding market.

Disney has said it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

That number includes 112 million users domestically and is an average per month over the last six months.

While traditional TV outlets have a standard way of measuring ratings and viewership, there is still no industry standard methodology for measuring global streaming advertising audience size, according to CNBC.

The company said that its Disney Advertising unit has “set out to define a globally consistent approach and methodology to estimate ad-supported audience numbers.” It’s providing the update and further insight into its ad-supported streaming business during the annual CES tech conference in Las Vegas, a go-to event for the advertising and media industry.

“Disney sits at the intersection of world class sports and entertainment content, with the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,” said Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, in a news release. “We wanted to be the first to offer our industry greater transparency into the methodology used to estimate our engaged global ad-supported monthly active users.”