PayMate India Struggles to Pay Staff Amid Cash Flow Crisis

Troubles have been mounting for the business-to-business (B2B) payments and services provider platform ‘PayMate India’, the latest being related to employee salaries. As per Mint reports, the new-age company has delayed salaries for some employees since April due to cash cash flow issues.

To be specific, around 100 employees across different levels have not received full salary in the past four months. However, some junior employees were paid complete salaries in the following month, while seniors are still waiting, the report said.

Even for July, the company has not released salaries. This has led to the exit of some employees from the company, it added.

The salary delays come at a time when funding has been slow and PayMate has increased its investments in international markets after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directive last year disrupted its India operations.

PayMate Financials

In March 2023, the company demonstrates considerable revenue growth, a 54.69% compound annual growth rate over four years. Its total debt reached ₹1.39 crore by March 2023, an increase from a negative ₹4.63 crore in the previous year.

The debt-to-equity ratio stood low at 0.2, implying limited leverage. Retained earnings stood at a deeply negative -₹2,644.74 crore as of FY23, showing accumulated losses over prior periods. However, the company's key financial ratios signal profitability on margins and returns.

They have not disclosed a detailed financial statement for March 2025. Despite losses, the company allocated new resources, such as advances, to productive uses. The dividend payout stayed negligible at 0%.

PayMate also expanded its B2B payments reach across India and other regions. The audited financial data for PayMate India’s FY25 is publicly unavailable. 

PayMate's Stalled IPO Plans

The company had filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for a ₹1,500 crore IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in May 2022. 

The proposed IPO comprised a fresh issue of equity shares worth ₹1,125 crore and an Offer-for-sale (OFS) of ₹375 crore by promoters, investors, and other shareholders.

However, SEBI had asked PayMate India to refile the documents for the initial public offering with certain updates because specific details were not disclosed in the IPO papers.

PayMate is a multi-payment category platform that incorporates vendor payments, statutory payments, and utility payments, giving its customers a fully-integrated B2B payment stack.

The platform also allows consumers and their vendors, suppliers, buyers, dealers, and distributors to use commercial credit cards to make statutory payments of direct taxes and GST as well as utility payments.

Visa has a partnership with PayMate. It is also a shareholder in PayMate, owning 2.94% of the fully diluted paid-up equity share capital.