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Banks without Aadhaar centres to face Rs 20,000 fine The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has given banks one more month to open Aadhaar enrolment centres inastipulated 10 per cent of branches. UIDAI will imposea Rs 20,000 fine per uncovered branch after September 30, chief executive officer Ajay Bhushan Pandey said. UIDAI, in July, had asked private and public banks to open Aadhaar enrolment and updation facility in one out of the every 10 branches by Augustend. The reprieve of one month has now been granted as many banks sought additional time from the authority for setting up such facility on their premises. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 06th September 2017

Exporters demand total exemption from GST Exporters have petitioned the government for an outright exemption on payment of goods and services tax, saying that the time it takes to get reimbursements under the current mechanism was causing a working capital crunch. According to industry claims, about Rs 1.85 lakh crore of working capital will get stuck annually due to the implementation GST. Several exporters said they are already facing a capital shortage and have begun to turn away orders. Prior to the implementation of GST on July 1, exporters were exempted from paying duties. Now, they have to pay the tax first and then seek a refund, a process that ties up a portion of their working capital and pushes up manufacturing costs as they have to pay duties on inputs. This has particularly hit small exporters, who work on meagre resources and for whom getting bank financing is tough. Moradabad-based brass handicraft manufacturer and exporter Paragon Metals has Rs 6 lakh of drawback bl...

Over 2 lakh companies' bank accounts frozen The Finance Ministry has imposed restrictions on the operation of bank accounts of more than 2 lakh companies which have been "struck off" from the Register of Companies.The bank accounts of these companies will remain frozen unless they are legally restored by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). All banks have been asked to take immediate and appropriate action. The Finance Ministry's official statement These individuals will not be able to operate bank accounts till such companies are legally restored by an order of the NCLT.Struck-off companies failed to respond to show-cause notices Most of these companies have been removed from the RoC due to issues with filing of returns and other formalities related to compliance. This was done after notices had been served to 2.97 lakh companies which had failed to respond to show-cause notices sent earlier. The existing directors and authorized signatories of these compani...

House panel to meet on bankruptcy resolution Wednesday will see the first meeting of Parliament´s joint committee to study the government´s Bill to put in place a resolution framework to deal with bankruptcy situations at banks, insurance companies and entities such as nonbanking financial companies. The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill was referred to the joint committee on August 10, during the monsoon session, and the panel was constituted on August 19. It has 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. Bhupender Yadav, the latter´s member from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, heads it.The report is supposed to come in the winter session of Parliament. This, with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code enacted last year, is aimed to provide a comprehensive resolution mechanism. It is to put in place the process for designation of systemically important financial institutions, establishment of a Resolution Corporation for protection of consumers of spec...

GST takes the sheen off services in August, too Introduction of the nationwide goods and services tax (GST) continued to be a drag on activity in the services sector in August, for a second month, with companies having to handle higher input prices and slow demand. The widely tracked Nikkei Purchasing Managers´ Index (PMI) showed a reading for the services sector of 47.5 in August.The 50 point mark separates expansion from contraction. However, the decline was softer than in the previous month of July, when the PMI had plunged toanearly fouryear low of 45.9. Last week, the latest gross domestic product (GDP) data showed a three year plunge in economic growth at 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year. While PMI data for manufacturing rebounded in August, rising to 51.2 points from 47.9 in July, services´ providers continued to grapple with a slow down in new businesses.The entities surveyed blame this on sub dued demand and rising competitive pressures emana...

Startups get 80% rebate on patent fee. More domestic and foreign startups will now be able to access the fast-track mechanism for filing patents, which will drastically cut down the time taken to obtain these rights. The government has introduced a more liberal definition for startups to ensure that many more of them can become eligible for benefits, including lower fees, under the latest patent framework. Under the new definition, any entity in India recognised as a startup by the competent authority under the Startup India initiative will be eligible. In order to encourage patent filing, the government has amended the Patent Rules 2003. The rules notified on September 2, will allow startups to avail of a rebate in patent fees. “A foreign entity, fulfilling the criteria for turnover and period of incorporation or registration as per Startup India Initiative” would be extended the patent filing benefits meant for startups, according to the notification. Over the past year, the defi...

GST cess: President promulgates ordinance to raise ceiling on large cars, SUVs to 25% President Ram Nath Kovind promulgates ordinance enabling increase in GST cess on medium-sized cars, large cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) from 15% to 25% President Ram Nath Kovind has promulgated an ordinance enabling an increase in the goods and services tax (GST) cess on motor vehicles, including medium-sized cars, large cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs), from 15% to 25%. The GST (Compensation to States) Amendment Ordinance, 2017 has amended the law to raise the maximum cess that can be levied on cars to 25%. However, the increase in the rate from the 15% levied at present will be effective only after the federal indirect tax body, the GST Council, notifies it. Cess is levied on motor vehicles over and above a 28% GST. The ordinance notified on Sunday in the official gazette said the change is applicable on all motor vehicles with a capacity of up to 13 persons as well as on all ca...

Govt extends deadline for filing GST returns Many Can’t Access Network For Huge Load Amid reports of a sudden surge in filing of returns that put a huge load on the Goods & Services Tax Network (GSTN), the IT backbone for GST, the government on Monday extended the last date for filing of returns for three categories. “GIC (GST Implementation Committee) decides to extend date of GSTR 1, GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 for the month of July to 10th, 25th and 30th September 2017 respectively,” according to an announcement on micro blogging site Twitter. “GIC decides to extend date of GSTR 1, GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 for the month of August to 5th, 10th and 15th October 2017 respectively,” it said. The network has been facing a heavy rush of returns and several traders and businesses said they were unable to access the system. Tax experts said the GSTN portal had been facing various issues for the past few days. “The GSTR1 filing of invoice level data by assessees on the GSTN portal is facing various is...

Note ban objectives achieved, says Jaitley Defending demonetisation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said those who did nothing to fight black money during their tenures had tried to confuse people about the real objectives of the note ban. The objective of the November 8 ban of the old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes was not how much money would return to the system, Jaitley said, addressing a new meet after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) annual report that showed nearly all of demonetised currency had, in fact, come back. He added that all objectives of the move, which sucked Rs 15.44 lakh crore out of the economy and hit growth in the short term, had been met. “The real objective of demonetisation was formalisation, attack on black money, less cash currency, bigger tax base, digitisation, and a blow to terrorism. And, we do believe that in each of these areas, the effect has been extremely positive.” In its annual report, the RBI disclosed that only 1 per cent of total...

PM to States: Set up teams to boost GST registrations Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all states to form special teams and carry out drives to increase the number of traders registered under the goods and services tax. He gave the instructions at a PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) meeting with top central and state officials on August 30 where he reviewed the progress of GST registrations. According to officials, the PM told states that the teams should go out and guide traders who have to register under the GST regime. He said the exercise should be completed in 15-20 days. The meeting took place a day after the government released a statement saying 13.8 lakh taxpayers out of a total of 72.33 lakh are yet to complete procedural formalities to migrate to GST Network (GSTN). The statement said 58.53 lakh taxpayers have already migrated to GSTN. “The number of new taxpayers who have registered with the GSTN up to 29 August is 18.83 lakh,” it said. In ...

Sebi May Bring Rules for Merger of MF Schemes Move expected to improve transparency and reduce confusion for MF investors India’s capital markets regulator intends to introduce rules that will force mutual funds to merge schemes in the same investment categories, driving long-pending consolidation in an industry that has hitherto ignored informal requests for ending the surfeit of plans. Broadly put, if a mutual fund has two equity schemes with mandates to invest in large-cap stocks, the asset manager will have to merge the investment products once the new rules proposed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) kick in. The step is aimed at improving transparency and reducing the clutter for investors. The Sebi-appointed mutual fund advisory panel, scheduled to meet September 1, will discuss the matter, said three people familiar with the development. Exact details of the proposed rules could not be ascertained, but one official said the norms will require clear categor...