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 Day 1 sees no major glitch for e-way bill, says GSTN chief executive An official said it would take a week or two for flying squads to get into regular operation, since the mechanism is not fully final One has to wait a bit longer to assess the robustness of the e-way bill portal. Just over 171,000 of these had been generated till 5 pm on Sunday, the first day of its mandatory nation-wide introduction for inter-state movement of goods worth over Rs 50,000 under the goods and services tax (GST) system.  The numbers were less than half of those generated on February 1, the earlier date of its roll-out, when the portal had crashed. At the time, 480,000 bills were generated. At present, the portal — ewaybill.nic.in — has a capacity to handle 7.5 million bills a day. Formally the electronic way bill for movement of goods, it is an invoice or delivery challan, generated only on the designated portal. Transport of goods more than Rs 50,000 in value in any vehicle cannot be made by a

  RBI likely to stay put on rates, flag concerns on food inflation, oil’s surge The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to keep benchmark rates unchanged while signposting concerns over oil prices and food inflation at its first bimonthly policy review in the new financial year.  An ET poll conducted among 23 market participants suggests that the central bank may be headed into an extended pause on rate action even though the US Federal Reserve is penciling in higher borrowing costs in the world’s biggest economy toward the latter half of the year. Should the Monetary Police Committee (MPC) of the RBI hold rates at what they now are at its conclave beginning April 4, it would be the fourth such consecutive policy decision.  The MPC is expected to strike a balanced approach as inflation in the January-March quarter (Q1-2018) has undershot its target,” said Anubhuti Sahay, chief India economist at Standard Chartered Bank. “Additionally, growth recovery… in a nascent stage is al

MCA plans 'intensive review' of companies law administration The government plans to carry out an "intensive review" of the administration of companies law as part of efforts to prevent instances of corporate frauds, according to a senior official. The government plans to carry out an "intensive review" of the administration of companies law as part of efforts to prevent instances of corporate frauds, according to a senior official. In the wake of over Rs 13,000 crore scam at Punjab National Bank (PNB), involving diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, various authorities, including Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), have initiated stringent measures. The ministry, which is implementing the companies law, is working to "tighten the screws" in order to prevent instances of corporate frauds, a senior official said. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 02nd April 2018

 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code set for major overhaul The corporate affairs ministry is finalizing a series of IBC amendments as the government wants to decisively deal with business failures that slow down the Indian economy India’s bankruptcy law, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), is set for a major overhaul as policymakers seek to decisively deal with business failures that slow down expansion in Asia’s third-largest economy. The ministry of corporate affairs is finalizing a series of IBC amendments based on a panel’s recommendations to remove difficulties in turning around businesses and to strike a balance between the interests of lenders, customers of failed businesses and their promoters, according to the insolvency law panel’s report which was submitted to the government last week. The IBC amendments proposed by the panel, led by corporate affairs secretary Injeti Srinivas, make a strong case for treating homebuyers as financial creditors, enabling them to ta

Number of delisted companies on the rise; bourses may see more exits The NSE delisted 100-odd companies in the past one year Despite a record line-up of debuts on the bourses this year, India’s listed universe is shrinking, and shrinking fast. Around 1,000 companies were compulsorily delisted in the past two years on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). And, by some estimates, another 1,000-2,000 may be shown the door, effectively contracting the universe of listed shares by 30-50 per cent. Around 5,900 companies were listed on the BSE on March 31, 2016. The number has now reduced to 5,035. A majority on the list have been compulsorily delisted, sources said. The NSE delisted 100-odd companies in the past one year. At present, around 1,600 companies are listed on the NSE. Compared to the spate of exits, far fewer companies, around 70 in number, entered the market in the last two financial years. In May 2016, Sebi announced measures to delist companies from stock exc

RBI may keep repo rate unchanged at 6% in April policy review: BS Poll But surprisingly, there is a narrow chance that the central bank may cut rates in the future: BS Poll There is a clear consensus that the six-member monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would keep the repo rate unchanged at 6 per cent next week. But surprisingly, there is a narrow chance that the central bank may cut rates in the future, according to a Business Standard poll of 15 economists and treasurers. This is an emergent view, which was missing in previous polls undertaken by the newspaper. Surely, any change in rates or stance is not expected in the first bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2018-19 on April 4-5. But the inflation trajectory has surprised many and stagnant growth could compel the RBI to go for a rate cut, according to some economists. The consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation in February came at 4.4 per cent, below the RBI’s March projection of 5.1 pe

Slow take-off for GST e-way bill likely as traders stock up early The system has gone through three rounds of testing for its load-bearing capacity It could take at least a fortnight for the e-way bill generation to take off, though it would be introduced at midnight of March 31 for inter-state movement of goods worth over Rs 50,000. Not many e-way bills might be generated in April since businesses had stocked up in advance to lengthen the time required to shift to the new system, experts said. However, the authorities seem to be prepared this time after the collapse of the portal in the first phase of the roll out. For the past several weeks, awareness campaigns have been carried out across the country to educate people about the new system. The e-way bill portal collapsed on the very first day of its introduction on February 1, when only 480,000 bills were generated. To avoid a repeat, the load has been increased to 7.5 million this time. The system has gone through three rou