Published 28 September 2026 (12 Asoj 2083). Based on Nepali media reports of the eSewa board’s decision. Digital Solution has no affiliation with eSewa; company figures below are as reported.
Quick answer: Niraj Sharma (also spelled Neeraj in some reports) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of eSewa Limited for a four-year term, effective Monday, 12 Asoj 2083 (28 September 2026). He succeeds Jagdish Khadka, who completed a full four-year term that began on 12 Asoj 2079. Sharma joins from Nabil Bank, where he was Chief Business Officer, and brings more than 25 years in banking — transaction banking, cards, retail banking and digital transformation.
Key points
- Who: Niraj Sharma, former Chief Business Officer, Nabil Bank.
- Role: CEO, eSewa Limited — Nepal’s largest payment service provider.
- Term: four years, effective 28 September 2026.
- Predecessor: Jagdish Khadka, CEO since 12 Asoj 2079.
- Decided by: the eSewa board of directors.
Who is Niraj Sharma?
Sharma spent his career in Nepali banking before moving to the wallet business. At Nabil Bank he led transactional banking and the bank’s digital platform as Chief Business Officer — a combination that maps closely onto what eSewa does: moving money for merchants and consumers at scale.
Reported background: over 25 years of leadership experience, expertise in transaction banking, card systems, retail banking and digital transformation; schooling at St. Xavier’s, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi, an MBA from Kathmandu University, and executive training including a Disruptive Strategy course from Harvard Business School.
What he inherits
| Metric (as reported) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Registered users | Over 1.4 crore (14 million+) |
| Merchants | Over 6,00,000 |
| Products added under the last CEO | Digital loans, Finance 360, eSewa Circle, Business Link, Business App, Intent Pay, insurance and event services |
| Accessibility | TalkBack support for visually impaired users, Nepali-language app |
By any Nepali measure that is a dominant position. The interesting question is what the next four years look like, because the ground under digital wallets has shifted in the past month alone.
Three things on the new CEO’s desk
The reading below is Digital Solution’s analysis, not company statements.
1. Interoperability pressure. Users complain openly that Nepal’s two biggest wallets still cannot pay each other — scanning an eSewa QR from Khalti does not send money to eSewa, and scanning a Khalti QR from eSewa returns an error. Nepal Rastra Bank’s interoperability circular dates back to 4 February 2022. We covered the complaint and the regulatory background in this report. Whether eSewa opens up under new leadership is the most-watched question among users.
2. NRB’s new fintech strategy. The central bank published its Fintech Strategy for Digital Financial Services (2026/27–2030/31) this month, with a “level playing field among fintech players” as an explicit sub-pillar, alongside cheaper services and stronger consumer protection. The market leader has the most to adjust to when a regulator starts talking about level playing fields.
3. Security and trust. Nepal’s capital market was knocked offline this month by a ransomware attack on a data centre hosting broker systems — see our report on the NEPSE outage. For a company holding the payment habits of 1.4 crore users, resilience and fraud control are now board-level topics, not IT topics.
Why this matters to ordinary users and merchants
- Nothing changes for your wallet today. A CEO change does not affect your balance, KYC or transactions.
- Watch fees and limits. Leadership changes are often followed by pricing and product revisions; check the app’s notices rather than relying on rumours.
- Merchants: if you accept eSewa QR, keep an eye on settlement terms and any change in merchant charges. Our guide to what a merchant QR really costs in Nepal explains what to compare.
- Beware impersonation scams. Any leadership news is quickly used by fraudsters (“account verification required after management change”). eSewa staff never ask for your PIN, OTP or password.
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Frequently asked questions
Who is the new CEO of eSewa?
Niraj Sharma, previously Chief Business Officer at Nabil Bank, appointed for a four-year term effective 28 September 2026.
Who was the previous eSewa CEO?
Jagdish Khadka, who led the company from 12 Asoj 2079 and completed a full four-year term.
How big is eSewa?
Reported figures at the handover: over 1.4 crore registered users and more than 6,00,000 merchants.
Does this change anything for my eSewa account?
No. Your balance, KYC status and transactions are unaffected by the leadership change.
Will eSewa and Khalti now work with each other?
There has been no announcement on that. Direct wallet-to-wallet transfer between the two is still not available.
The bottom line
eSewa hands the largest wallet in Nepal to a banker who ran transaction banking and digital channels at Nabil. The scoreboard for the next four years will not be user numbers — those are already won — but whether Nepal’s payments actually become interoperable, cheaper and safer under a regulator that has just said it wants exactly that.
Sources & disclaimer: Ratopati English, ICT Frame and Pardafas reports of 28 September 2026 on the eSewa board decision; company figures as reported by those outlets. Digital Solution Pvt. Ltd. is an independent publisher with no affiliation to eSewa, F1Soft, Nabil Bank or Khalti. Analysis sections are clearly marked as our own view.
Rabin Paudel
Rabin Paudel is the Founder of Digital Solution, a Content Creator, and an AI Trainer. He shares practical and easy-to-understand content on Artificial Intelligence, Digital Literacy, Online Services, FinTech, and Technology. His mission is to make technology simple, accessible, and useful for everyone.
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