Economics

Stock Options Are A `Complete Mess' in India Despite Tech Boom

Commuters walk along a bridge at the Kurla railway station in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017. India's Finance Ministry will recommend bold tax reform to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's growth-crimping cash ban wasn't in vain, people familiar with the matter said.Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

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By Saritha Rai

February 13, 2018 at 11:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

A few years ago, TechProcess Payment Services looked like a promising destination for ambitious young tech workers. The Indian startup pioneered electronic payments in the country and won the financial backing of high-profile investors like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and ICICI Bank Ltd.

But now former employees are suing Mumbai-based TechProcess, alleging they’ve been wrongfully deprived of gains on their stock options. The move by Deepak Mishra, Kunal Nagarkatti and fifteen others is extremely rare in India. It also shines a spotlight on what many say is systematic abuse by startups of options that have been used in Silicon Valley and beyond to compensate rank-and-file employees.