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www.caonline.in News... 1.Companies can now undertake CSR activities via trusts u/s sec.8 Companies / Societies established by company, either singly or jointly along with any other company. Notification no. GSR 540(E) [F.NO.05/12/2016-CSR-CELL], dated 23-5-2016. 2.RBI relaxes norms on payment of consideration on transfer of shares to a non-resident. In case of transfer of shares between a resident buyer and a non-resident seller or vice-versa. 3.Ministry of Finance issues The Income Declaration Scheme Rules, 2016, effective from 01.06.15. Notification dated 19.5.16 4.Income tax refund couldn’t be denied just because scrutiny notice was served; HC quashed CBDT’s instruction No. 1 of 2015 dated 13.01.2015. [Tata Teleservices Ltd. vs. CBDT]. 5.Extension to 27.05.16 of last date to file DVAT-16, DVAT-17 & DVAT-48 for Q4 of 2015-16.circular no. 7 of 2016-17 dated 23.5.16. For more News Like us on https://www.facebook.com/caonlineofficial Or Subscribe on mail visit : www.caonli...

The government and the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) have been working on how to reduce cash transactions in the economy. In this regard, they formed acommittee last month, of seven members, chaired by a ministry official, Neeraj Kumar Gupta. This group is looking at how to ensure the acceptance of card payments is increased. This will require more of point- of- sales ( PoS) machines. RBI data at end- March shows 24.5 million credit cards and 661.8 million debit cards in the country, compared to 1.3 million PoS terminals. A committee was also formed last year on the same issue; the new panel is to also see that the former’s suggestions are implemented. These include reducing the interchange fee charged on credit cards and bringing these at par with debit cards. Currently, 1.98 per cent in the case of credit card spending and 0.5- 1 per cent in debit card spending of the total amount is and is split between the bank that issued the card, the lender whose PoS machine is being used...

Terming a sharp slowdown in China as a “ significant risk” for the global economy and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( Saarc) region in particular, Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday the regulator had been moderating any extreme currency volatility through its intervention. He said India has in place a four- pronged defence against external shocks — “ good policies; prudent capital flow management and swap arrangements; preventing extreme forex volatility; and building reasonable forex reserves”. “Good policy has been essential to our stability,” Rajan said while listing out various structural reforms undertaken by the government to enhance growth. “RBI has been moderating periods of extreme volatility in the currency through exchange intervention, though only when the movement is excessive, and increasing access to foreign exchange reserves, including pooling of reserves,” he said. In his inaugural speech at the SAARCF...

The labour ministry plans to approach the Prime Minister's Office with its proposal to allow Employees' Provident Fund Organisation subscribers to pledge their future provident fund contributions to buy low-cost houses, after having run into opposition from the urban development ministry. Officials told ET that the ministry hopes to be able to route its plan through the PMO because it complements Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of `Housing for All'. The ministry will soon make a presentation to the PMO on the proposal, after which it will be moved for interministerial consultation, a senior official said, requesting not to be identified. “The effort is to take the PM on board before we move to interministerial consultation because once approved by PM the proposal is likely to go through,“ the official said. As per the proposal, first mooted last year following recommendations of an expert committee, EPFO subscribers will be allowed to take 20% of their c...

Will also look at strategies to offload stakes in subsidiaries & joint ventures In a bid to drive investment in the economy and prod state-run firms for capital expansion, the government has asked central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to work out their plans for monetizing their assets. A senior government official said that CPSEs will also look at strategies to offload stakes in the subsidiaries and joint ventures as part of this exercise. According to government data, there are 63 subsidiary companies of CPSEs which are yet to start regular production. “The administrative ministries are in dialogue with their compa with their compa nies. Already, so me power sector firms including Power Grid Cor poration are wor king to set up an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) to unlock value of their as sets,“ he said. An executive with Power Grid Corp confirmed the development and said that the state-run firm will soon appoint consultants to look at monetizing its opera...

Wants new pacts to make it mandatory for foreign investors to exhaust local judicial remedies before seeking arbitration India has written to 47 countries to nullify the existing bilateral investment agreements and ink fresh treaties that will make it mandatory for foreign investors to exhaust local judicial remedies before seeking arbitration. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government has prepared a model draft which will serve as the template for all investment agreements in the future and also for reworking the current ones. “We have written to 47 countries...Treaties that have completed 10 years will be allowed to be lapsed so that a new text can be negotiated,“ a government official told ET. Some of the countries that India has written to are European nations with whom treaties were signed earlier. Treaties that have been signed recently such as one with the United Arab Emirates will continue with the existing text and be revised later, the official said. The Bilateral Inve...

Lenders can bargain strongly on asset recovery, defaulting borrowers can lose control of co With the Bankruptcy Act in place, banks can breathe easy, at least in the medium term, as corporate borrowers will now intensify their efforts to avoid loan defaults and the likely loss of management control of business, said Moody's Investors Service. This will empower lenders to bargain strongly in matters of asset recovery, while borrowers can gain with lower borrowing costs after three-four quarters. “The (defaulting) borrowers will lose control of the company as soon as the process is initiated,“ Srikanth Vadlamani, vicepresident, Financial Institutions Group, Moody's Investors Service, told ET from Singapore.“This, in itself, should act as a key incentive for them not to default in the first place.“ A few weeks ago, the government passed the Bankruptcy Bill, introducing a time-bound settlement process against loan default. With the Bankruptcy Act, the resolution process-f...

The Reserve Bank aims to keep a close check on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, which has been booming globally, by stipulating that anyone looking to lend through such online platforms has to be a bank account holder. With banks enforcing stringent know your customer (KYC) norms, this should ensure that fund sources can be tracked and that the P2P route won't be used to launder money . This was one of the proposals made by RBI at a meeting between representatives of the P2P lending industry and a senior RBI official last Monday . While P2P lenders in India are currently unregulated, the RBI recently issued a consultation paper on rules for the sector and sought suggestions on this before May 31. The meeting was held as part of this exercise. P2P lenders are online platforms that bring together individuals who seek credit and investors ready to meet that demand. The platforms encourage a number of investors to come together and lend money to a single borrower. The rate of intere...