CA Online

 UIDAI set to introduce face authentication feature from July 1 The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is all set to make face authentication available alongside iris or fingerprint scan as means of verifying Aadhaar users from July 1, 2018.  The UIDAI, which is in-charge of the 12-digit identifier Aadhaar, in January had announced that it will introduce face authentication feature to help those who run into problems in biometric authentication due to old age, hardwork or worn-out fingerprints.  It had said that face authentication will be allowed only in fusion mode meaning it would be permitted along with either fingerprint or iris or OTP to verify the details of Aadhaar holders.  In a presentation to the Supreme Court last week where he emphasised the robustness of the Aadhaar encryption system saying breaking it may take "more than the age of the universe for the fastest computer on earth", UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey also informed that the propose

Service tax can't be imposed in J&K, says tribunal of pre-GST levy The case was from the earlier service tax regime, prior to rollout of the current goods and services tax A tribunal has rejected indirect tax authorities’ demand to levy service tax for goods transported to Jammu and Kashmir on the reverse charge mechanism. The case was from the earlier service tax regime, prior to rollout of the current goods and services tax (GST). Experts say such a dispute would not arise in the GST regime. A company supplying petroleum products had got a notice for services given by a goods transport agency in J&K between April 2011 and September 2014. The company contended that service tax, imposed since 1994, excluded the state of J&K; hence, no such levy was possible. To which, the authorities said the tax should have been deducted by the company on the reverse charge mechanism. Generally, the seller of a service was liable to pay tax after deducting it from the service

Vehicle scrap policy to go for Cabinet's nod in a month: Nitin Gadkari    The proposed vehicle scrap policy for mandatory disposal of more than 20 years old commercial vehicles will go for the Cabinet nod in a month and once brought in, will result in additional flow of Rs 10,000 crore into government coffers, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said.    The much-awaited policy was given 'in-principle' approval at a high-level inter-ministerial meeting at the PMO to pave way for scrapping of 20 years old commercial vehicles (CVs) from April 1, 2020.    "Old commercial vehicles are responsible for 65 per cent of the vehicular pollution. The policy to scrap these has got nod at a Secretary-level meeting at the PMO. Now stakeholders consultation will be done in a fortnight and it will go to the Cabinet in about a month's time," Road Transport, Highways, Shipping, Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari told PTI in an interview.   

Service tax can't be imposed in J&K, says tribunal of pre-GST levy The case was from the earlier service tax regime, prior to rollout of the current goods and services tax A tribunal has rejected indirect tax authorities’ demand to levy service tax for goods transported to Jammu and Kashmir on the reverse charge mechanism. The case was from the earlier service tax regime, prior to rollout of the current goods and services tax (GST). Experts say such a dispute would not arise in the GST regime. A company supplying petroleum products had got a notice for services given by a goods transport agency in J&K between April 2011 and September 2014. The company contended that service tax, imposed since 1994, excluded the state of J&K; hence, no such levy was possible. To which, the authorities said the tax should have been deducted by the company on the reverse charge mechanism. Generally, the seller of a service was liable to pay tax after deducting it from the service

Telangana slashes VAT on aviation fuel by 15% In a move likely to increase air traffic at the Hyderabad airport, Telangana industries minister KT Rama Rao on Friday announced a slash in Value Added Tax (VAT) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). The minister said VAT had been cut down to 1% from 16%. He was speaking at an event marking 10 years of the airport’s functioning.The airport already handles 50% more traffic than its designed capacity, according to its CEO SGK Kishore. Kishore also announced plans for the airport’s expansion at the event. He said the capacity of the airport is 12 million per annum while it handled 18 million passengers last year. “We will incentivise the airlines which operate during off-peak hours and operate wide-body aircraft. The issue with Hyderabad airport is that traffic is bunched during the morning and evening hours. The issue is pending with the regulator and if approved, it will help us in utilising the infrastructure better,” said Kishor. He ad

India must lead in defusing possibilities of a global trade war: Ficci  India should play a proactive role in defusing the emerging possibilities of a global trade war that can derail the positive outlook in the world trade, Ficci said today.  The industry body observed that protectionist measures by the US have raised serious concerns about a global trade war, highlighting the importance of keeping the World Trade Organisation (WTO) process intact and also making the multilateral institution stronger.  Moreover, with the WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo raising alarm on the issue at the two-day mini-ministerial in New Delhi early this week, it is high time countries across the world think beyond retaliatory measures to counter the challenges posed by the targeting of the WTO by the US and unilateral increase in tariffs, Ficci said.  India can play a significant role in guiding this exercise to defuse the emerging possibilities of a global trade war that can derail the po

 MCA files Prosecution against 780 listed Companies for Non-Filing of Financial Statements and Annual Returns The corporate affairs ministry has filed prosecution against 780 listed firms for non- filing financial statements and annual returns, parliament wea told on friday. Chaudhary said there wre only 7,720 active lsted firms out of 1.7 million rgisteed as of december The Business Standard, New Delhi, 24th March2018