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Outgoing Trai chairman R S Sharma- whose open dare to Twitterati on Aadhaar misuse had caused a social media furore- asserted on Tuesday that mere knowledge of Aadhaar number cannot increase one's "digital vulnerabilities". Sharma added the intention behind disclosure of his 12-digit number was never to abet others to publish or disclose their Aadhaar numbers. Breaking his silence, Sharma said he has always maintained disclosure, knowledge or sharing of the biometric ID number does not increase " digital vulnerabilities". Sharma, who retires on August9, was speaking on the sidelines of a conference where telecom regulator Trai announced that two of its mobile apps- do not disturb app that reports pesky calls and MyCall app that measures call quality- will be available on UMANG platform. The Business Standard, 08th August 2018

Union finance minister Piyush Goyal said Tuesday that India expected to receive data on HSBC accounts of its citizens from authorities in Switzerland in the next 10 days following its apex court’s directions on data sharing with India.  Replying to a supplementary in Rajya Sabha on a question on black money deposited in foreign banks, Goyal told the House that though there were no official estimates, a tax demand of Rs.5,447 crore has been made in HSBC and an undisclosed income of  Rs. 8,448 crore has been brought to tax. Also, a penalty of  Rs. 1,290 crore has been levied in 164 cases. So far, 199 prosecution complaints have been filed in 84 cases, he said.  “The Supreme Court of Switzerland has ordered the government to share with us that data in about a week or ten days ...We are going to get that,” Goyal said. He added that the HSBC list was released in 2010-11. “And from 2011-12 till 2014, the government kept trying to make an effort but was stalled by the Swiss government...

The Bills are primarily aimed at helping the MSME sector and small traders, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said while introducing these in the Lok Sabha The government on Tuesday introduced four Bills in the Lok Sabha to amend the goods and services tax (GST) laws, to provide for simplified returns and raise a threshold for the composition scheme under the indirect tax system. A draft framework for the simplified return was put in the public domain recently.  Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have annual turnaround of up to Rs 50 million will be able to file quarterly returns once the Bills are passed.  The Central GST (Amendment) Bill, the Integrated GST (Amendment) Bill, the GST (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill, and the Union Territory GST (Amendment) Bill are likely to be passed in the current session of Parliament. Also, those with annual turnover of up to Rs 15 million will be allowed to opt for the composition scheme. Now, the threshold is Rs 10 millio

The latest move is expected to reduce the surge in imports of textile products, which grew by 16% in 2017-18 The government on Tuesday raised import duties on 328 textile products by up to 20 per cent in the fourth such instance of higher tariffs being placed on inbound goods in 2018.  India had raised basic Customs duties on 43 broad categories of goods, including electronics, in this year's Budget.  Last month, apart from announcing higher safeguard duties on solar cells imported from China and Malaysia, it had also raised import tariffs on 76 textile products, including jackets, suits, and carpets, to 20 per cent.  The government has also acknowledged an official panel under the Cabinet Secretary, which will aim at reducing India’s dependence on imported televisions, refrigerators and washing machines by placing further import duties on the sector. The import bill for these items amounted to nearly USD 2 billion in 2017-18. Tuesday's duty hike for products across the t

Monthly revenue collections from the goods and services tax (GST) are improving, but adjusting for refunds, the mop-up is not very comforting. And the recent concessions are likely to exert more pressure on tax collections, pushing the fiscal deficit higher.  Last week, the GST Council cleared a proposal to incentivize digital transactions on a pilot basis via Rupay cards, B HIM a pp and the UP I system. Customers making payments through these platforms would get cashback of 20% of the total GST amount, subject to a maximum limit of Rs.100. While the intention is to promote a cashless economy, the timing may be wrong, especially because GSTcollections are still short of the required monthly run-rate of  Rs. 1 trillion.  Going by the estimate of the group of ministers under Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, the revenue loss on account of this movewould be  Rs. 1,000 crore annually.  Although compliance has improved after the e-way bill implementation in May, contrary to expec

Following Basel III norms would free up about Rs. 60,000 crore of capital for lenders The government will hold talks with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on relaxing capital norms for banks and bringing them in line with less stringent Basel III guidelines, said a senior government official. Such a move would free up an estimated Rs.60,000 crore of capital at state-owned lenders, allowing them to step up lending to fuel the reviving economy, bolster weaker banks and reduce pressure on the government to provide capital. This follows discussions by the finance ministry with Niti Aayog and other stakeholders. The minimum common equity (CET) Tier-I ratio as prescribed by RBI — money that banks need to set aside — stands at 5.5% of riskweighted assets against 4.5% under Basel III norms. There is a need to lower this to the level stipulated by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, said the official cited above. By freeing up capital, around Rs.6 lakh crore of lending can be achie

Auto component industry on Monday sought uniform 18 per cent GST across the sector stating that low taxation would lead to better compliance and larger tax base. The industry, which reported a growth of 18.3 per cent to Rs. 3.45 trillion in 2017-18, said the lower tax levy would also help in curtailing flourishing of grey operations in the aftermarket. "One of the key demands of the industry has been a uniform 18 per cent GST rate across the auto componet sector.  Currently 60 per cent of the components attract 18 per cent GST rate, while the rest 40 per cent, majority of which are two-wheelers, and tractor components attract 28 per cent, "ACMA President Nirmal Minda told reporters here. The Business Standard, 07th August 2018