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No consecsus as yet on social security code Even though the Indian Labour Conference ( ILC) could not build a consensus on forming a labour code on social security schemes, it recommended aslew of measures to broaden their coverage. The two- day conference, atri- partite platform of trade unions, industry and the government, concluded here on Tuesday with a series of recommendations. It recommended that Employees’ State Insurance Corporation ( ESIC) coverage be expanded to include the unorganised workers by reducing the threshold of coverage. At present, firms with 10 workers are covered under this law and the Union labour ministry will reduce this threshold limit. On- site construction workers will soon become a part of the ESIC Act. At present, construction workers directly hired by a factory, those who work on the premises of a factory, and technical workers such as engineers get health benefits from ESIC. However, workers hired through agencies or those working on a const...

The government is considering deregulation of forward contracts, or put and call options for equity, in an attempt to boost merger and acquisition ( M& A) activity in India. Companies agreeing to joint ventures ( JVs) usually enter into forward contracts where one company can buy the other’s shares and sell them back at a predetermined price. Restrictions on such put and call options have been revised a number of times. Since the passage of the Finance Bill 2015, oversight of such instruments has shifted from the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) to the finance ministry. The government is looking at relaxing rules governing forward contracts for companies, and one option is complete deregulation. Business Standard, New Delhi, 22nd July 2015

S.No. Dated Message 1 13/07/2015 RBI introduces 2 new Annual return Forms NBS8 & NBS9 for NBFCs-ND with assets size of Rs100-500Cr & with assets size below Rs100Cr Resp.Notification of 09.07.15 2 14/07/2015 E-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 XBRL & MGT-7 shall be available by 30.09.15.NO additional fee payable on these forms upto 31.10.15.Circular No. 10/2015.Regards Webecreator. 3 14/07/2015 Consolidated Financial Statements to be filed in Separate form i.e. AOC-4 CFS,shall be made available by Oct,2015.Non XBRL form for CFS to be filed by 30.11.15. 4 14/07/2015 Tomorrow (15-07-15) is LAST DAY to file TDS/TCS Returns for Q1 of 2015-16. Regards, Webecreator 5 15/07/2015 Today (15-07-15) is LAST DAY to file TDS/TCS Returns for Q1 of 2015-16. Regards, Webecreator! 6 17/07/2015 Indian co. may issue ESOP & sweat equity shares outside India,subject to filing of return in Form-ESOP to RBI within 30Days of issue.Notification dated 16.07.15 Note :  Above is compilation of SMS ...

Once inputs from various ministries are incorporated, final version of the policy will be moved to the Cabinet; India has been under pressure from developed nations on IPR regime The much-awaited National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy will be moved to the Cabinet soon after incorporating inputs from various departments, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. The IPR think tank headed by Justice Prabha Sridevan, set up by the government last year, formulated a draft patents policy earlier this year. The think tank was set up to highlight anomalies in current IPR legislation and advise on possible solutions. “After adopting a transparent process of drafting this policy, it (has been) with the government for a month or two. It has gone to all the ministries, which is a necessary process, for inter-ministerial consultation. We shall take inputs from various ministries and post that, (we) will give the final version to the Cabinet,“ the ministe...

Wants them to provide history of actions taken against `associates', even if they are abroad Alternative investment funds (AIFs), having foreign entities as “associates“, are rattled by the latest Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) directive to disclose the entire disciplinary history of sponsors, managers, directors, partners, promoters and associates in their placement memorandum. In a recent informal guidance released by the market regulator, it has asked Peninsula Brookfield India Real Estate Fund (PBIREF) -a Sebi-registered Alternative Investment Fund -to disclose the entire history of various regulatory actions against its associates, even if they are located outside India, in the place ment memorandum. Brookfield, which manages over $200 billion of assets with 24,000 odd employees in over 100 offices in 20 different countries, now has to provide the disciplinary history of its sponsors, managers, directors, partners, promoters and associates to Sebi due to...

Govt consults legal experts; move would quicken inflows, cut cost and do away with investment pooling vehicles The government has sought the opinion of legal experts on allowing foreigners to directly invest in Indian venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds. A direct access under the “automatic route“ would quicken fund inflows, cut cost and do away with investment pooling vehicles in tax havens such as Mauritius. Local funds, categorised as three types of Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), include VC and angel funds, funds for investing in infrastructure, small businesses and real estate, as well as the new breed of domestic hedge funds. Bringing in overseas money in AIFs requires the permission of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the setting up of offshore feeder vehicles which collects funds before transferring it for investment in companies and assets in India. “Even non-repatriable investment by NRIs in AIF requires prior FIPB approval. It's also ...

but, the original return has to be filed in the stipulated period There are many individuals who after filing their income tax returns have realised there was a mistake in the form or the data submitted was not correct. It could be anything – certain income was not declared, postal address or bank details were wrong, or the wrong ITR form was filled. They need not worry. The income tax ( I- T) department allows payers to add omitted information and rectify errors if the returns were filed within the stipulated deadline. For the financial year ending 31 March, 2015, the deadline for filing returns is August 31, 2015. Interestingly, a person is allowed to amend the filing as many times he or she wishes to, but not later than 24 months from the last date of the financial year. In this case, the last date for filing ‘ revised return’ will be March 31, 2017. Vikram Ramchand, CIO & co- founder of Makemyreturns. com gives an example of his client, who works with an information t...

Taking a firm stance on companies not in compliance with the listing requirements the Securities and Exchange Board of India on Monday barred these companies from raising further capital. Business Standard, New Delhi, 21st July 2015

Periodic declarations that no policy was forcefully sold will be given by banks The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India ( Irdai) is further strengthening the norms against forced selling of insurance policies by banks. In its recent meeting, Irdai decided to seek an undertaking from the CEO and the chief financial officer (CFO) of the corporate agent (including banks) that there is no forced selling of an insurance product to customers at periodic intervals. This would be on the lines of commission/ remuneration received by these banks and other corporate agents that are disclosed, usually on a quarterly basis. During the meeting of Irdai members, one member pointed out that often banks and financial institutions that act as corporate agents force the customer to buy insurance from a particular insurer. It was suggested the head of the banks (and other corporate agents) should take ensure no product is forcefully sold. This will be part of the regulations on...

Rupee- denominated offshore bonds or ‘ masala bonds’ by domestic issuers might not hit the market this financial year, as these await clarity on the withholding tax structure. A different withholding tax structure for these would require amendments in the income tax law or an enabling provision. Union finance ministry sources indicate such changes are only likely in next years Budget. “A withholding tax of five · per cent as desired would require enabling provisions in the Act. Such changes are unlikely to come up before the next Budget,” said a source. In the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’ s first bi- monthly monetary policy review for financial year 201516, held in April, it had stated an intention to expand the scope of issuance of these bonds by international financial institutions. As also to permit Indian companies eligible for external commercial borrowing (ECB) to issue such bonds with an appropriate regulatory framework. Last month, RBI had come up with draft norms, ac...

RS committee moots 1% extra tax only on inter-state supply for a consideration suggests states be given full compensation for revenue loss for 5 years Parliamentarians are understood to have recommended amechanism to do away with the contentious issue of a cascading effect of one per cent tax over the proposed national goods and services tax ( GST). A select panel of the Rajya Sabha is believed to have suggested the tax be made liable only in the case of inter- state supply of goods for a consideration, adding this be made explicit at the time of making the GST law. It also accepted a demand by most states that the Constitution amendment Bill on GST provide that they be fully compensated for revenue loss for five years. The committee, sources said, was also understood to have recommended moderate GST rates, with as many goods under it as possible. However, the rates would be decided by the proposed GST council and these wouldn’t be part of the Constitution amendment Bill. Des...