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Don't rush into a new tax without being prepared Given the virtually stalled progress on the goods and services tax (GST), it is increasingly unlikely that the government would be able to kick off the new tax by April 2016. The best bet would be to target September and work towards that goal in right earnest. The government had shown the good sense to keep the option open to initiate the new tax at a date later than the original target of April 1, with the finance minister having gone on record to say that April 1was a very tight deadline. Now that many state governments and their finance ministers are busy putting out the fires lit by demonetisation, they are unlikely to focus on the business of getting GST going. Most countries that have adopted a value-added tax like the GST had given their economic entities at least 12 months, after notifying the rules, to gear themselves up for compliance. Indians are, of course, from a different planet and can do the same task in half the ti

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said it will soon put to circulation Rs100 notes in the market with enlarged identification features. “The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs100 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, without inset letter in both the numbering panels,” RBI said in a release. The notes with ‘2016’ printing year will be similar in design with the existing Rs 100 notes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 having ascending size of numerals in the number panels, bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark, on the obverse. More news on demonetisation The RBI said it has already put to circulation Rs1 00 notes with the ascending size of numerals in the number panels but without bleed lines and enlarged identification mark. These notes will remain in circulation concomitantly with the notes being issued now, it added. “All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs100 issued by the central bank in the past will continue to be legal tender,”

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will soon make third-party audits mandatory for food companies to ensure food safety, the authority’s chief executive Pawan Kumar Agarwal said. “We are working on the regulations and final guidelines will be notified soon,” Agarwal said without disclosing further details. He was speaking at a programme organized by lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry here on Tuesday. Some food companies in India voluntarily hire laboratories to inspect safety of their products but it is not mandatory yet. Such audits are common in most developed countries where self-regulation is the norm. “We need to move towards self-regulation to ensure safe food for every Indian household. With the current strength and infrastructure, FSSAI alone would not be able to ensure surveillance at every corner. Surveillance is a big area. We are taking up surveillance in a few commodities. As we speak, the surveillance on honey and milk is going on,”

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has removed the so-called two-factor authentication for online card transactions involving sums up to Rs2,000, in a move aimed at simplifying and encouraging electronic payments. The move will likely help cab aggregators, online movie ticket sellers and even e-commerce marketplaces. Currently, any online transaction involving a card requires users to first enter card details on the merchant’s payment gateway, wait for a one-time password (OTP) to be sent to their mobile phone, and then use this number to complete the purchase. To be sure, discarding two-factor authentication for purchases up to Rs2,000 is an opt-in service, which means that customers will have to specifically opt for it. RBI said that card network providers and banks will have to inform customers about the availability of such services and take their consent. Customers opting for this facility will go through a one-time registration process requiring entry of card details and

Once notes are cancelled, Reserve Bank can pay the amount to the government as dividend The government may issue an ordinance to provide clear legal support for extinguishing the demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes that are not returned by December 30. The government wants to amend the Reserve Bank of India Act to this effect and ordinance route may be opted for as Parliament would not be in session immediately after the last day of surrender.The ongoing winter session of Parliament -disrupted by protests as it has been -ends December 16 and the budget session will start only late January . An ordinance will pave the way for cancelling the said currency once the amount of money returned becomes clear on December 31.“We could look at it (an ordinance),“ said a government official. Only when the unreturned currency is cancelled can it be made available to the government, possibly via a dividend paid by RBI.Once this is done, the government could consider the amount so recovered

The RBI today auctioned the 35 days Cash Management Bills worth Rs 60,000 crore under government's Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) to mop up extra liquidity from the system against the backdrop of demonetisation. The central bank will also conduct an auction of 35 days Cash Management Bills under the MSS for Rs 60,000 crore tomorrow. On Friday, the central bank had auctioned MSS worth Rs 20,000 crore, after MSS ceiling was raised to Rs 6 lakh crore. The Cash Management Bills for a notified amount of Rs 60,000 crore was done using "Multiple Price Auction" method. The bids for the auction were submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system. The Cash Management Bills have the generic character of Treasury Bills. After the withdrawal of the legal tender character of the Rs 500/1,000 denomination notes with effect from November 9, there has been a surge in deposits with the banks, the RBI had said. There has been

The finance ministry on Monday asked all government departments to make electronic payments to suppliers, contractors or institutions, if the order value exceeds Rs.5,000.To attain the goal of complete digitisation of government payments,the ministry has lowered the threshold for making such payments from Rs.10,000 to Rs.5,000,it said in a statement. Business Standard New Delhi,06th December 2016