Fino Payments Hits All-Time Low After Telangana HC Dismisses CEO’s Bail Plea

Shares of Fino Payments Banks have gone for a toss and tanked 18.6% to ₹113.6 apiece during intraday trading today after Telangana high court (HC) dismissed MD and CEO Rishi Gupta’s writ petition seeking bail in an alleged tax evasion case yesterday. 

The company’s shares, which have been spiralling down since Gupta’s arrest in late February, touched a fresh all-time low of ₹112.1 during intraday today. The company’s shares have slumped close to 56% on a year-to-date basis. With the bloodbath for the shares, Fino’s market cap has plunged from $240 Mn at the beginning of the year to a $100 Mn (₹940.37 Cr) as of now.

The stock came under selling pressure after CEO Gupta was arrested by the Hyderabad unit of  Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) in connection with a GST investigation into alleged online betting-linked tax evasion of over ₹840 Cr. Since his arrest on February 27, Fino’s shares have tanked about 41%.

Gupta is alleged to have been a part of a syndicate that channelled funds from illegal online gaming platforms through shell entities and programme managers. Days after his arrest, the CEO moved the Telangana HC, seeking to have his arrest and custody declared illegal and to secure his release on bail, stating: “declare the arrest of the Petitioner… to be arbitrary, illegal, highhanded and violative of Articles 14, 19, 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India.”

Yesterday, the HC dismissed the prayer.

Following Gupta’s arrest and subsequent legal tussle, Fino said that there had been no impact on its operations or financial position. Customer balances and transaction volumes remain stable, and the bank continues to add around 10,000 CASA accounts daily, the company added.

The bank also appointed its CFO Ketan Merchant as its new interim CEO amid the chaos.

In the past, SEBI had flagged that the bank received 15 complaints related to fraudulent investment schemes run by its employees. Fino appointed KPMG to investigate, which found that 19 employees ran unauthorised investment schemes between December 2021 and April 2023.

In December 2025, Fino Payments Bank received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to convert into a small finance bank (SFB). After the CEO’s arrest, the company said that it remains focused on its transition into a SFB. 

On the financial front, Fino’s net profit declined 47% to ₹12.3 Cr in the December 2025 quarter (Q3 FY26) from ₹23.1 Cr in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the net profit declined  20% from INR 15.4 Cr profit registered in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, its total income for the quarter declined 15% YoY and 2% QoQ to INR 394.4 Cr, majorly because of a fall in its traditional transaction business. 

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