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NCDRC says that Consumer Protection Act prevails over laws related to arbitration The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has provided relief to home buyers who cannot pursue cases against developers due to a conflict in the law concerned. According to lawyers, many cases were pending in different consumer forums because developers had included a clause that disputes between two parties would be first settled though a private resolution mechanism, also known as arbitration.The Consumer Protection Act is an additional remedy available to individuals, and it is usually not affected by other Acts in force. But in 2015 the Arbitration and Conciliation Act was changed. The new changes said that a judicial authority has to refer for arbitration those cases where a provision for arbitration had been included in the agreement. “In cases where builders had included the arbitration clause, they appealed to consumer forums to not admit cases and refer them for arbitration,

Over 3.6 million bank accounts have seen cash deposits of Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.Rule 114E of the Income Tax Rules says banks, including cooperative banks,have to report to tax men cash deposits aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year, in one or more accounts(other than a current account and time deposit) of a person.“According to there ports generated on July 14,2017, the total number of cash deposits aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year in one or more accounts (other than a current and time deposit account) by the reporting entities is 36,06,269,” Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. Business Standard, New Delhi, 19th July 2017

The income tax (I-T) department has asked all sub-registrars and tehsildars under its jurisdiction in Mumbai to send it details of property deals worth Rs 1 crore or more in the past 10 years. This is aimed at nabbing those who stash unaccounted money in benami property. The letters from the I-T department, seeking information of property registrations between April 2007 and June 2017, were issued under Section 21(1) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988. The Central Board of Direct Taxes altered this law significantly through a notification on October 25 last year. According to estimates of experts dealing in property registrations in Mumbai, there would be at least 500,000 agreements worth Rs 1 crore or more from the past 10 years. “Without doubt one of the primary destinations for unaccounted money is real estate. Almost all of it is held in benami properties," said Dinesh Kanabar, chief executive officer, Dhruva Advisors LLP He added the efforts of

The National Capital Region (NCR), one of the biggest markets in the country, spanning three states — Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh — typifies the challenges for  businesses that register under the composition levy scheme. Applicable to certain categories of small taxpayers — traders, restaurants, and manufacturers/ suppliers — whose annual turnover does not exceed Rs 75 lakh ( Rs 50 lakh for  certain states), the objective of the scheme is to make the new indirect tax regime simple with reduced compliance. The tax rates range from 1 per cent for traders, 2  per cent for manufacturers, and 5 per cent for restaurant services. Under the scheme the taxpayer is required to file one return in each quarter. However, attached to the scheme are riders that have stumped businesses. Any business that makes interstate supply is outside the ambit of the scheme. For instance,  small businesses operating in the NCR face the brunt of this condition because their supplies often cross state bor

The new indirect tax regime is having an effect akin to setting a cat among pigeons for micro and small businesses across the country. This is largely due to a  provision for collecting and paying tax on behalf of unregistered vendors and suppliers, under what is termed the reverse charge mechanism (RCM). A concept borrowed from the service tax, the RCM also now applies to supply of goods. However, higher compliance cost, including a larger working capital requirement,  is causing a shake-out in the procurement chain of businesses. The smaller ones, operating largely in the unorganised space, are losing. Consider: Large companies in  the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) space have started pruning their vendor list for sourcing products and services, weeding out small suppliers which are yet to  register under the goods and services tax (GST). The remaining ones — barely 10 per cent of their vendor universe — have been put on notice. In the textile hub of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu,

The Centre has urged Jammu and Kashmir to implement the goods and services tax from July 1 to ensure that consumers and industry in the State are not put at a  disadvantage. In a letter to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that non-implementation of the new levy from July 1 will  have an “adverse impact” and lead to a general increase in the prices of goods that are purchased from other States as well as in the prices of all goods being sold  from Jammu and Kashmir. “GST is a destination-based tax… if the State of Jammu and Kashmir does not join GST on July 1, dealers shall not be able to take credit of the Integrated GST for all  purchases. This shall get embedded into the prices of purchased goods or services, leading to cascading of tax and increase in prices of the said goods or services for  the final consumers in Jammu and Kashmir,” Jaitley said, according to a release by the Finance Ministry on Monday. All Sta

Businesses can start uploading their sale and purchase invoices generated post July 1 on the GSTN portal from July 24, a top company official said today. The Goods and Services Tax has kicked in from July 1 and so far, the GST Network, the company handling the IT backbone for new tax regime, has been facilitating registration of businesses. "We plan to launch the invoice upload utility on the portal on July 24 so that businesses can come forward and start uploading the invoices on a daily or weekly basis to avoid month-end rush," GSTN Chairman Navin Kumar told PTI. Generating invoices for dealings above Rs 200 and keeping invoice records in serial number even if maintained manually, are pre-requisites for claiming input tax credit under the GST regime. The GSTN had last month launched an offline Excel format for businesses to keep their invoice records and from July 24 this Excel sheet can be uploaded on the portal. Kumar said GSTN would put up a video on its portal to as