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Country's top auditor, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), has pointed out that 24 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) did not issue bonus shares despite having free reserves in excess of their paid up capital. The CAG observations come at a time when the government is looking to push CPSEs to either achieve their capital expenditure plans failing which they may need to either give out special dividends or go for buybacks. This could raise the pressure on these companies to productively deploy their cash. ET had reported last week that government is looking at buybacks by state run companies to meet its ambitious disinvestment target of Rs. 56,500 crore. In its audit report, the CAG has noted that in case of eight CPSEs, managements are yet to amend Articles of Association to provide for buyback of shares. The report further notes that 10 CPSEs which includes MMTC Ltd, NMDC Ltd and Bharat Electronic Ltd did not formulate their investment policy for investi

Rs. 1.73 lakh crore of public sector bank money stuck in top 100 non- performing accounts as of Dec 2015 There were 7,686 wilful defaulters owing ? 66,190 crore to stateowned banks as of December 2015, Jayant Sinha, minister of state for finance, told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Sinha also said that the total outstanding amount in top 100 nonperforming accounts ( NPAs) with public sector banks ( PSBs) was Rs. 1.73 lakh crore as of December 2015. Sinha said the number of wilful defaulters of PSBs rose from 5,554 to 7,686 in three years to December 2015 while the amount involved more than doubled to Rs. 66,190 crore from Rs. 27,749 crore. “ The total exposure of top 50 defaulters of PSBs as of December 2015 was Rs.1,21,832 crore,” he said in a written reply in the Upper House. In another reply, Sinha said there were 1,365 borrower accounts having outstanding of Rs. 500 crore and more at the end of December 2015. He said government has taken specific measures to address issues in sector

The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) is looking to put in place a regulatory framework to check fraudulent electronic transactions. This is expected to fix the liability issues arising out of such transactions, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday. The Banking Codes and Standards Board of India had in 2014 come out with a recommendation to limit the customer’s liabilities in such cases, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in the Rajya Sabha. Noting that 87 per cent of the transactions in the economy are still in cash, Sinha said the government underlined the governments commitment to encouraging cashless financial transactions. “ So much of cash transaction is not good. This increases the cost of handling besides causing inconvenience.” RBI in its Payment System Vision Document 2012- 15 for ushering in a cashless economy suggested drawing up of a policy framework to establish the roles and responsibilities of banks and customers in electronic transactions to

The income- tax department has brought out anew form making it mandatory for salaried taxpayers to furnish proof of travel for claiming tax deduction on LTA or LTC. The Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) has brought in a Form 12BB form requiring employees to furnish to their employers with evidence in relation to house rent allowance ( HRA) if it exceeds Rs. 1 lakh in an assessment year. The details to be furnished include name, address and PAN of landlord where the aggregate rent paid exceeds Rs.1 lakh, according to a CBDT order. For claiming deduction of interest on home loan, the name, address and PAN of lender will have to be furnished. Business Standard New Delhi,4th May 2016

All the properties in Delhi might soon have their own Aadhaar-like number. The Delhi government, in collaboration with the three municipal corporations of the city, may soon start assigning 12 digit unique identification numbers to all the properties in the national capital. Officials said that apart from ownership details and usage data, the properties will be attached through a Global Positioning System. The move will help cut down on emergency response time and help in disaster management in times of natural calamities. “Currently there is no data to help analyse the collective number of properties in the city because of which there is lack of property/housing-specific development schemes. This problem will be resolved if the unique identification number project is started,” said a municipal official. The official said the data will help in planning public infrastructure, titling of urban property and during census. “It will help us analyse the population spread as per

Income from sale of unlisted shares would be treated as capital gains and taxed at a lower rate than business income to have a uniform approach and avoid litigations, the Income Tax department has said. " It has been decided that the income arising from transfer of unlisted shares would be considered under the head capital gain irrespective of period of holding, with a view to avoid disputes/ litigation and to maintain uniform approach," Business Standard New Delhi,4th May 2016

Almost a year after the Securities and Exchange Board of India introduced trading plans to enable promoters and other persons holding possible insider information to trade, hardly any companies have stepped forward to formulate these plans. Trading plans were introduced on an experimental basis whereby every insider is entitled to execute trades in pursuance of a pre- determined and pre- disclosed plan. The idea was to encourage compliant trading by promoters and key managerial persons, similar to Rule 10b5- 1 plans in the US. These plans cover all connected persons, defined as any person who has a connection with the company that is expected to put him in possession of unpublished price sensitive information. At present, most companies follow the model code of conduct for prevention of insider trading, which has to be formulated by every listed company. There are several guidelines that have made these plans unpopular. For instance, the trading plan has to cover a period of