Protean eGov Share Price Crashes 20% in a Day — What Went Wrong Over the Weekend?

The shares price of Mumbai-headquartered Protean eGov Technologies plunged 20 per cent to Rs 1,143 in the lower circuit on Monday, May 19. The downward spiral in share price was a direct result of it failing eligibility to enter the next round of Income Tax Department’s PAN 2.0 tender.

Protean e-Gov shares plunge on PAN 2.0 project bid loss  

The income tax department intends to carefully alter the technology backbone that issues and manages PAN and TAN cards. With a budget of nearly Rs 1,440 crore, the PAN 2.0 project covers all aspects such as development, implementation, design, operations, and long‑term maintenance. Landing the mandate would have strengthened Protean’s position at the centre of India’s tax‑tech landscape for years.

In an exchange filing, the technology entity said it had bid to become the project’s Managed Service Provider but was “not considered for the next stage.” The company, through the filing, said that the new platform “appears to have limited or minimal impact” on its current PAN processing work under the existing contract, however the market clearly felt otherwise.

In an earnings call, the company said that there was no immediate impact on business, as the Pan 2.0 didn't fall under its distribution, and processing vertical of its business.

Prominent investor Ramesh Damani is among the key shareholders of Protean eGov Technologies, with a 1.05 per cent stake at the end of the March quarter. Ajay Aggarwal also holds a 1.12 per cent stake.

While Protean has no promoter shareholding, lenders like State Bank of India (4.93 per cent), Canara Bank (1.23 per cent), Bank of Baroda (1.54 per cent), Punjab National Bank (2.25 per cent), and Axis Bank (3.18  per cent), own stake in the company.

Majority of the public shareholding in Protean eGov Technologies is currently small retail shareholders, or those with authorised share capital up to Rs 2 lakh. At the end of the March quarter, as many as 1.98 lakh retail shareholders had a 39 per cent stake in the company.