CA Online

As many as 2,690 companies are yet to appoint a woman director on their boards, even as the last date to do so was over eight months ago. The Centre has started the process of serving show- cause notices on such companies. According to the data, 10,328 companies, registered under the CompaniesAct, 2013, shouldhave appointed at least one woman director by April 1, 2015. Only 74 per cent ( 7,638) of them have complied with the law so far. “Show- cause notices are being sent to the companies,” said the government in a reply obtained under the Right to Information Act. However, the law does not prescribe any specific penalty at this stage, said Harish H V, partner – India Leadership team, Grant Thornton India LLP. According to the Act, every public company, having paidup share capital of Rs.100 crore or more or having aturnover of Rs.300 crore or more, should have appointed at least one woman in their board by April 1 “The usual reasons ( behind not appointing women directors) are ...

Updates Of the Day 1.SEBI issued Circular No. CIR/OIAE/001/2015 on Issue of No Objection Certificate for release of 1% of issue amount as per the extant Listing Agreement with the Stock Exchanges. 2.Services directly or indirectly used in relation to manufacture of final products are eligible for Cenvat Credit. [Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of Bellsonica Auto Components India Private Limited]. 3.MCA has modified the versions of e-Form DIR-3, DIR-6, FC-4, MGT-14, INC-7, INC-22, SH-7, INC-29, DIR-12 and CHG-1 w.e.f 02.12.2015. 4.Valuation as per deeming provision u/s 50C not applicable on mere transfer of rights in land. [ITAT Jaipur held In the case of ITO vs. Tara Chand Jain]. 5.No addition u/s 68 on account of money received on allotment of shares, once identity of investor company established. [Lotus Integrated Taxpark Ltd. vs. The DCIT (ITAT Chandigarh)]. 6.Government notifies new DTAA with Thailand; old DTAA would cease to have effect from 01.04.2016. For more ...

As part of cashless economy push, Centre to create a framework for payments -inter-ministerial, vendor transactions or payments for govt services -to be made electronically Feeling hassled about making a paltry payment of Rs.10 or Rs.5 through net banking or a credit card for a government service? Fret not -such transactions can soon be done through mobile wallets such as Paytm and Mobikwik. The government is creating a framework for all financial payments -inter-ministerial, vendor transactions or small payments by citizens for government services -to be made electronically. This is part of a larger initiative by the Modi government for a cashless, or less cash, economy. The Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) is spearheading the project, which is on its way to become a major leg of the govern ment's marquee Digital India campaign that is aimed at all-round digitisation in the country. Currently, most government payments and receipts are made by cash or cheque, said...

Tax clarity on monetisation likely this week The finance ministry’s revenue department is likely to issue a clarificatory note within this week on the taxation issues of gold monetisation scheme ( GMS) investors. The clarifications will include exemptions on income tax and long- and short- term capital gains tax. Standard has learnt a number of state- owned banks are in talks with some of the country’s largest and richest temple trusts, including those managing Sabarimala, Sree Padmanabhaswamy, Tirumala Tirupati, Guruvayur, and Puri Jagannath, among others, to part with some of their massive reserves of idle gold for GMS. These and other issues surrounding the gold schemes were discussed at a meeting, which the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India officials held with representatives of various banks in Mumbai on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das. “The income tax department may issue clarifications on the tax treatment for...

Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) on Wednesday sent an email to mutual fund houses seeking information on the commissions paid to distributors. The market regulator has asked fund houses to give details about their commission payout by 3 pm on Thursday. “ We hear informally from Amfi ( Association of Mutual Funds in India) that certain asset management companies are not following the said guidelines ( best practices guidelines for rationalisation of distributor commissions). You are advised to provide the status with respect to the same. Your reply shall reach us by 3 pm tomorrow (Thursday),” said Sebi’s email. The industry body of the mutual fund industry, Amfi, had issued guidelines under its best practices guidelines on March 26 and another lot on June 26, asking fund houses to rationalise fees that are being paid by them to distributors. In the guidelines issued on March 26, fund houses were asked to limit the payment of commission to 100 basis points in the fi...

Updates Of the Day 1.Central Board of Excise and Customs issued Notification No. 135/2015-CUSTOMS (N. T.) Dated 30.11.2015. 2.RBI has reviewed the guidelines for Investment by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) in Corporate Bonds and has decided to permit FPI to acquire NCDs/bonds, which are under default. 3.RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.75% in monetary policy review. 4.SEBI approves proposal to initiate public consultation process for exit opportunity to dissenting shareholders if variation in terms of contracts of prospectus. 5.Service tax not applicable on distributors of lottery tickets issued by state government and charge created by Finance Act, 2015 is unconstitutional. [Sikkim High Court in the case of Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited]. 6.Re-opening u/s 148 based on of revisiting of existing material is bad in law. [In Mohan Jhangiani vs ACIT, Kolkata Tribunal]. 7.Receipts on account of acquisition and processing of seismic data shall be taxed u/s. 4...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday began the consultation process to provide an exit option to dissenting shareholders in case of changes to the objectives of listed firms for which they had raised money from public. The Sebi board approved the new norms on Monday. The move is aimed at helping shareholders make an exit if they feel dissatisfied with any change in the business plan of the company concerned after fund-raising. Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 2nd Dec. 2015

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) has proposed aframework for public issuance and trading of convertible securities by both listed and unlisted companies. Such securities are debt instruments that can be converted into equity at a later date. Investors get paid interest from the issuer till these are converted into equity. Indian companies are allowed to raise capital through convertible securities, but the lack of a detailed framework has prevented these from being as popular as Initial Public Offerings ( IPOs) of shares or a rights issue. Following the Sebi board approval on Monday, the regulator issued a consultation paper on Tuesday. Based on feedback from investment bankers, Sebi has proposed an issue of convertible securities, with a maximum tenure of five years. Currently, there is no specific provision on this, except for financing of a group company, where the maximum tenure can be 18 months. Sebi has sought feedback on whether to allow pricing of su...

Moving a step closer to online settlement of provident fund (PF) withdrawal claims, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation ( EPFO) on Tuesday allowed its subscribers to apply directly to the body without employers attestation. At present, subscribers submit their claims regarding PF withdrawals manually through their present or former employer. The attestation of forms was mandatory. This facility will be available to all those subscribers whose Universal ( or portable PF) Account Number is activated and seeded with the know your customer details like bank account and Aadhar number. Business Standard, New Delhi, 2nd Dec. 2015

A Bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, to enhance the penalty for graft to a maximum of seven years, among other things, was moved for consideration in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The bill was moved by Union minister Jitendra Singh. Business Standard, New Delhi, 2nd Dec. 2015

The Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday it was not changing any of its key policy rates. That said, it believes banks have room to reduce their own lending rates, noting less than half of the cumulative policy rate reduction of 125 basis points ( bps) since January has been transmitted by the latter —the median base lending rate has come down only by 60- odd bps. “I think if you look at onethree years’ deposits, banks have already cut significantly more than they have transmitted via the base rate. So, in that case, there is room building up for the banks to transmit more,” said Raghuram Rajan, the RBI Governor. A cut in lending rates is preceded by one in the deposit rates, to ensure the margins are protected. Rajan added: “ We are working with banks on a new methodology to determine the base rate, which will be on marginal cost, and it should be put out sometime this week. What the marginal cost of pricing does is make the costs flow through into lending rates faster. So, t...