EaseMyTrip Under Cloud as ED Charges Co-Founder Nishant Pitti and Freezes ₹59.60 Crore in Shares

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its regulatory dragnet around online travel portal EaseMyTrip (Easy Trip Planners Ltd), naming its co-founder, Chairman, and Managing Director Nishant Pitti in an anti-money laundering chargesheet. In its fifth supplementary chargesheet submitted before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur, the agency provisionally attached demat shares worth ₹59.60 crore belonging to Pitti and sought judicial clearance to confiscate them as proceeds of crime.

The developments have triggered acute concerns across domestic equity desks regarding corporate governance, promoter shareholding, and compliance adherence at the listed travel aggregator.

Allegations of Market Manipulation and Foreign Routing

According to investigators, the federal agency’s probe into the wider Mahadev Online Book (MOB) operation uncovered direct nexus between Pitti and Dubai-based businessman Hari Shankar Tibrewal, who oversees the illicit betting platform Skyexchange.

The ED alleges that Pitti, acting on behalf of the promoters of Easy Trip Planners Ltd, participated in a pre-arranged transaction mechanism with an associate of Tibrewal. The agency claims this arrangement was designed to artificially inflate the company's equity price and manipulate its market capitalisation before shares were routed through offshore shell vehicles structured as Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIs).

The central agency's findings against Pitti and affiliated networks highlight several key compliance and legal transgressions:

• Layering Betting Proceeds: Pitti allegedly assisted in laundering proceeds generated by Skyexchange, which the ED estimates amassed illicit funds upwards of ₹12,000 crore.
• Artificial Price Rigging: Regulators noted pre-meditated equity transactions aimed at fabricating trading activity and artificially lifting Easy Trip Planners' market valuation.
• Promotional Synergies: The chargesheet pointed to EaseMyTrip’s joint sponsorship of the Road Safety World Series cricket tournament in India in 2022 alongside Skyexchange as evidence of ongoing commercial entanglement.
• Asset Attachment: The Raipur special court was asked to confiscate demat assets valued at ₹59.60 crore provisionally attached under PMLA provisions.

Promoter and Company Stance

Nishant Pitti has vigorously refuted the charges, stating that he adheres to the highest corporate governance standards and that all personal and professional assets were generated through legal avenues and formal banking channels. Pitti noted that he had cooperated with investigative authorities during questioning and intends to legally challenge the ED's insinuations in court.

Easy Trip Planners Ltd has maintained that neither the company nor its board of directors had received formal legal summons or official communication regarding charges from the court at the time of the filings. Concurrently, the company carried out mandatory regulatory compliances, notifying the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) regarding the closure of its insider trading window from October 1, 2026, until 48 hours following the release of its second-quarter financial results under SEBI Prohibition of Insider Trading regulations.

Broader Ramifications for Investors

The Mahadev betting investigation represents one of the largest regulatory operations undertaken by Indian enforcement authorities, involving 116 named accused across six chargesheets, 14 arrests, and asset attachments surpassing ₹1,885 crore across 190 searched locations.

For market participants and retail investors holding Easy Trip Planners, the allegations strike directly at compliance integrity. Allegations of promoter involvement in price manipulation via offshore entities inevitably bring transactions under the shadow of capital market regulator SEBI alongside the ED’s money-laundering proceedings. As the PMLA court takes cognisance of the supplementary filings, the overhang of ongoing litigation and attached promoter equity is set to heavily dictate market sentiment around EaseMyTrip shares.

Tags: Easy Trip Planners Ltd EaseMyTrip Enforcement Directorate PMLA SEBI Travel and Tourism Sector