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The Government has been Very Supportive on e-Pharmacies The online pharmacy sector expects regulations to be streamlined by the end of this year, Prashant Tandon, CEO of 1mg and president of the India Internet Pharmacy Association, said in an interview. Edited excerpts: How has regulation been a pain for e-pharmacy startups? In the last two years, many epharmacies had to shut because they were harassed by the local players. When a drug inspector comes to a vendor he knows only the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. We need to see it in light of the IT Act, which supersedes all other acts in terms of applicability. What we have been asking is that since the IT Act supersedes all other Acts in terms of applicability, all of that needs to be harmonised and communicated though one notification. On that, the government has taken a very positive stance on that but hasn’t yet introduced any notification. We have been assured that work is in progress towards that. But the local harassment has re...

GST panel to consult MSMEs in October end to ease tax rigour Five-member ministerial panel set up by GST Council to meet MSME representatives on 29 October to seek views on how to make compliance under GST easierA five-member ministerial panel set up by the federal indirect tax body, the goods and services tax (GST) Council, will meet representatives of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) at its second meeting on 29 October to seek views on how to make compliance in the GST regime easier for them. The panel tasked with suggesting ways of making the quarterly tax payment scheme for small businesses more attractive wants to consult SMEs to make its recommendations as broad based as possible before they are placed before the Council to take a decision at its meeting on 9 November. The GST Council had at its last meeting on 6 October allowed firms with up to Rs1 crore annual sales to sign up for the quarterly payment scheme, up from the earlier Rs75 lakh and exempted inter-state...

Sebi norms for settlement in commodity derivatives Reliable benchmark price of the commodity should be used as reference for settlement price The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) asked on Monday asked asked exchanges to prefer physical settlement system for commodity derivatives contracts, a move that is expected to help hedgers manage risk better as well as curb excessive manipulation."The first preference of settlement type shall always be by the way of physical delivery," Sebi said in a circular. However, any exemption from physical settlement would be considered in certain scenarios with a proper justification. The cash settlement route would be considered in case physical delivery is difficult to implement due to any reason, including the commodity is intangible; difficult to store due to low shelf life or inadequate storage infrastructure; and difficult to physically handle and transport the commodity because of inadequate logistics and transport infr...

RBI governor calls for better access to currency swap lines He said emerging markets have been largely excluded from this global network, forced instead to husband huge foreign-exchange reserves they can deploy to stabilize their economies in the event of economic upheaval.“Some of us would go as far as describing this situation as virtual apartheid, in which systemic central banks protect themselves and their self interest. Meanwhile, EMEs on the receiving end of global financial turbulence are systematically denied access,” Mr.Patel said, referring to emerging market economies.“The time has come to end this sectarian approach and access to swap lines be made equally available,” he said.Mr.Patel´s remarks come as emerging markets brace for the ripples of changing centralbank policy in advanced economies. The Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England have begun taking steps to withdraw some of the monetary stimulus put in place to shore up their economies since the world tipped into...

Jewellers await BIS rules on self certification Reports of compulsory hall-marking of gold jewellery after the government notified the revised Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act last week have sent ripples across the jewellery industry.Many big players have started claiming they sell only hallmarked jewellery.However, those selling non-hallmarked jewellery are prioritising sale of such jewellery and others are considering various options, including self-certification, till all jewellery is hallmarked. According a report released two years ago by the World Gold Council, “Only 30 per cent of Indian gold jewellery is currently hallmarked.There are wide spread differences in purity and an average under caratage of anywhere between 10 per cent and 15 per cent.” Making hallmarking of gold jewellery compulsory hasabig impact from the gold demand perspective as old jewellery will have to be converted to new compliant jewellery and its caratage will also have to be 14, 18 or 22, as mand...

Items in 28% GST rate slab need to be pruned The number of goods in the highest goods and services tax (GST) slab of 28 per cent would be brought down and a committee of officers will calculate the revenue impact before going in for further reduction in tax rates, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said on Monday.“It is required, the fitment of rates which has happened is mainly based on excise and VAT,” he said, when asked if the GST Council is considering pruning the number of items in 28 per cent tax bracket. The GST, rolled out from July 1, has subsumed over two dozen taxes and has transformed India into a single market for seamless flow of goods and services. All goods and services have been fitted in the fourtier GST rate structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent.Adhia said while fitting the goods and services in various tax brackets, the GST Council has taken into consideration only the excise duty and VAT rate applicable on those items prior to GST. “There are industries wher...