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Banks to shut out builders without RERA listing   Builders who have been thinking of ways to beat the new Real Estate Regulation Act are fast running  out of time as banks, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, have decided not to extend loans  to those projects which have not been registered under RERA.  "We have to look for some security mechanism, and since RERA is designed to weed out fly-by-night  operators, we have decided not to extend credit to projects not registered with it," said a bank  official who did not wish to be identified. "Adhering to the regulations will safeguard our interests,  it's better to be safe now than regret later."  Banks have also sought additional collateral, including on personal properties of promoters, as  guarantees while disbursing loans to a few real estate developers.  "We are very apprehensive because even if we disburse loans as prescribed under the law, the way it is  designed, it does not prot

DeMo Impact : Individual I-T Returns Up 25% With the Centre tightening the screws on black-money holders, the number of income-tax returns (ITRs)  filed this fiscal year has risen nearly 25 per cent. According to official data released on Monday, the total number of ITRs filed till August 5 grew 24.7  per cent to 2.82 crore, as against 2.26 crore during the corresponding period of 2016-17. The number of returns filed by individuals rose 25.3 per cent to 2.79 crore, as against 2.22 crore in  the previous fiscal year. “This clearly shows that substantial number of new tax payers have been brought into the tax net  subsequent to demonetisation,” said the Finance Ministry. August 5 was the last day for filing income-tax returns after the deadline was extended from July 31. The Income-Tax Department had launched ‘Operation Clean Money’ to look into suspicious cash deposits  during the note-ban period. Taxpayers also had to declare cash deposits of over ?2 lakh made in their

Over one million pan cards deleted by the government. PAN card is an identifier of taxable entity for all financial transactions undertaken by one  person. As per the government of India, a person is not eligible to register with more than one  PAN number. The government of India traced fake PAN cards which have not been allotted to  existing individuals or people who have submitted false information about them. More than one million permanent account numbers have been deleted or de-activaed by the  government, in a move to check of the fake identities. In the current fiscal year the income tax department researched on the same and launched an  operation clean money where the results came out to be that near about 1.8 million people's  transactions did not appear in the line with their tax profile and they were approaced by the  government. There have been about 5.56 lakhs new cases. Besides this about 200 high risk persons were  indentified for appropriate action. Also

Sebi today directed bourses to initiate action against 331 suspected shell companies that are  listed and these scrips will not be available for trading this month, according to a  communication. The regulator's directive came after the corporate affairs ministry shared a list of 331 listed  companies that are suspected to be shell entities and could even face "compulsory delisting". Stepping up the surveillance measures, these entities would be subject to independent audit and  if required, forensic audits could also be initiated to check their credentials. In a communication sent to the BSE, the NSE and the Metropolitan Stock Exchange, the markets  regulator has asked them to keep the 331 shares in stage four of the Graded Surveillance  Mechanism (GSM) with immediate effect. Securities coming in stage four are permitted to trade only once a month under trade to trade  category. Since these shares would be moved to stage four from tomorrow, these securities

Inabid to bring back some of the lost zing, the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange  Board of India (Sebi), is looking to extend the trading hours for the derivatives market. Sources said Sebi was considering if trading in index futures could be kept open even after the  cash market closed. The move will provide investors the tool to price in news flow that comes after market hours. Currently,alot of foreign investors use global platforms such as the Singapore Stock Exchange  (SGX) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) —which offer almost roundtheclock trading on  some Indian contracts —for trading or hedging their underlying exposure to Indian stocks. “Extending derivatives market timing would beagreat idea. Our market should be open whenever  customers want it to remain open. Given the current setting, there isacrisis on the international competitiveness of the Indian  exchanges. A decade ago, nearly 100 per cent of the trading on Indian underlying used

Aadhaar now mandatory for death certificates Directive applicable across the country, except Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Meghalaya Come October 1, death certificates will be issued only after relatives of the deceased provide Aadhaar number to authorities, a government notification said on Friday. The notification by the Office of the Registrar General, which functions under the home ministry, said an applicant is required to provide Aadhaar number or enrolment ID number (EID) of the deceased and other details as sought in the application for death certificate for the purpose of establishing the identity of the deceased. However, if the applicant is not aware of the Aadhaar number or EID of the deceased, he or she will be required to provide a certificate that the deceased person did not possess Aadhaar number to the best of his or her knowledge, the notification said. The use of Aadhaar for the applicants of death certificate will result in  ensuring accuracy of the detai

Differential Tax Levy under GST:   Food Firms May De-Register Trademarks The government’s decision to charge an enhanced tax rate on trademark food brands is leading several rice, wheat and cereal manufacturers to consider de-registering their product trademarks. Irked by the June 28 central government notification fixing a 5 per cent goods and services tax (GST) rate on food items packaged in unit containers and bearing registered brand names, the industry has made several representations to the government to reconsider the differential tax levy, which these players say is creating an unlevel playing field within these highly-competitive and low-margin industries. Sources say that the move has affected the packaged rice industry the hardest and allowed the un-registered market leaders, India Gate and Daawat, to gain advantage as compared to other registered brands such as Kohinoor and Lal Qilla. Smaller players are even more worried with this enhanced rate of tax (against the ot