Banks, ATMs Not Running in Muslim Areas Modi a 'Tyrant', - Owaisi

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Finance
10-December, 2017 11:03 IST
Dri Strikes Against Black Money - Recovers about Rs.50 Crores of Demonetized Currency

Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), a pioneer Intelligence Agency of the Government of India, zeroed in on an office premises at Bharuch in Gujarat State and recovered about Rs. 48.91 crores of demonetised currency in Rs. 500 and Rs.1,000 denomination currency notes.


Acting on the specific intelligence, the officers of DRI, Surat, assisted by the officers of CGST Vadodara-II raided a premises of M/s Yamuna Building Material, GIDC Panoli, Bharuch and recovered Specified Bank Notes (demonetized Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes) of face value of Rs. 48,90,96,000/-(Forty Eight Crore Ninety Lacs and Ninety Six Thousand) on 8th / 9th December, 2017.


Under Section 7 of the newly enacted The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, whoever contravenes provisions of Section 5 of the said Act shall be punishable with fine which may extend to Rs. 10,000(Rupees Ten Thousand) or five times the amount of the face value of the specified bank notes involved in the contravention, whichever is higher.

In the instant case, with the demonetised currency detected by DRI to be of the order of about Rs 49 crores, the fine is expected to touch about Rs. 245 crores. The persons whose name appear in investigations will also be probed. Therefore, the ramifications can be wide and far reaching.

DRI is filing a complaint in the Court against the three (3) persons involved.

The various details are with DRI now and are a matter of investigation.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Finance
13-December, 2017 17:15 IST
Extension of deadline till 31.3.18 for submission of Aadhaar number, and Permanent Account Number or Form 60 by client to the reporting entity

After considering various representations received and inputs received from Banks, it has been decided to notify 31st March, 2018 or six months from the date of commencement of account based relationship by the client, whichever is later, as the date of submission of the Aadhaar number, and Permanent Account Number or Form 60 by the clients to the reporting entity. Necessary notification in this regard has been issued.

It may be recalled that earlier Under the provisions of Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017, published in the Extraordinary Gazette of India vide G.S.R. 538 (E) dated 01.06.2017, it was provided that

i) In case the client, eligible to be enrolled for Aadhaar and obtain a Permanent Account Number does not submit the Aadhaar number or the Permanent Account Number at the time of commencement of an account based relationship with a reporting entity, the client shall submit the same within a period of six months from the date of the commencement of the account based relationship. Provided that the clients, eligible to be enrolled for Aadhaar and obtain the Permanent Account Number, already having an account based relationship with reporting entities prior to date of this notification, the client shall submit the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number by 31st December, 2017.

(ii) In case the client fails to submit the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number within the aforesaid six months period, the said account shall cease to be operational till the time the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number is submitted by the client. Provided that in case client already having an account based relationship with reporting entities prior to date of this notification fails to submit the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number by 31st December, 2017, the said account shall cease to be operational till the time the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number is submitted by the client.

*****

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Finance
19-December, 2017 17:16 IST
Measures taken by Government to Control and Curb Parallel Economy and Unaccounted Transactions

The Government has taken several measures to effectively control and curb the prevalence of parallel economy and unaccounted transactions. Major steps in this regard constitute:-


1. Enactment of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 w.e.f. 01/07/2015 to more effectively tackle the cases involving black money stashed abroad.

2. Enactment of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 w.e.f. 01/11/2016 to effectively deal with domestic black money cases.

3. Constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money in May, 2014 under Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of two former Judges of Hon’ble Supreme Court. The SIT has so far submitted 6 reports to Hon’ble Supreme Court

4. Constitution of Multi-Agency Group (MAG) for coordinated and effective investigation in ‘Panama paper leaks’ cases and Paradise Leaks cases.

5. Task Force (TF) on Shell Companies constituted under the joint chairmanship of Revenue Secretary and Secretary (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) in February, 2017. The task force has met 6 times so far.

6. Various other anti-evasive legislative measures taken:


6.1 Tracking & curbing cash transactions and strengthening third party reporting mechanism: Quoting of PAN made mandatory for sale or purchase of any goods/services above Rs. 2 Lakh.

6.2 Post-demonetization, significant measures:


(i) Quoting of PAN made mandatory for all cash deposits above Rs. 50,000 and aggregating to more than Rs. 2.5 lakh for the period from 9 November to 31 December, 2016.

(ii) Further, Rule 114E of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 was amended to mandate the prescribed reporting entities to report all cash deposits above Rs. 2.5 Lakhs in savings accounts and Rs. 12.5 Lakhs in current account during the above period.

(iii) Restriction on cash transaction of Rs. 2 lakh or more (Section 269ST of I.T. Act), no deduction under section 80G if cash donation exceeds Rs. 2000 w.e.f. 01.04.2018, restriction on donations of Rs.2000/- or more to political parties otherwise than by a bank account or through electoral bonds.

(iv) Deeming fair market value as full value of consideration for computation of capital gains in case of transfer of shares other than quoted shares.

(v) Mandating that a person who has an account (other than a time deposit and a Basic Saving Bank Deposit Account) maintained with a banking company or a cooperative bank shall furnish his PAN or Form No. 60 etc.

(vi) Linking of Aadhar with PAN has been made mandatory for filing Income Tax Returns and for applying for new PAN from 1st July 2017.


7. International Cooperation:


(i) Proactively engaging with foreign governments to enhance the exchange of information (EoI) under tax treaties, India has tax treaties with 148 foreign jurisdictions as on 30.06.2017

(ii) India joined a group of 48 countries as early adopters to new global standards for automatically exchanging information from 2017

(iii) India-Mauritius and India-Singapore tax treaties amended to adopt source based taxation of capital gains with a view to help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.


8. Interventions in regulatory framework by the CBDT:


8.1 Integration of PAN and TAN with MCA Portal:

e-PAN Card for Company Applicants issued within 1 day (95% within 4 hrs) from March, 2017

8.2 MoU for exchange of information signed between Central Board of Direct Taxes and Ministry of Corporate Affairs.


9. Actions in the context of demonetization: The Income-tax Department adopted a multi-pronged approach to detect and seize undisclosed assets after the announcement of the demonetization scheme on 8 November, 2016. This included collection of high quality intelligence, identification and prioritization of high risk cases, creating deterrence while ensuring professionalism and integrity in investigations. Significant steps taken in this regard are:-



9.1 Enforcement actions:


i. The Income Tax Department conducted searches in 900 groups during November 2016 to March, 2017 leading to seizure of assets of Rs.900 crore, including cash of Rs. 636 crore, and admission of undisclosed income of Rs. 7,961 crores

ii. During the same period, 8,239 surveys were conducted leading to detection of undisclosed income of Rs.6,745 crore


9.2. Operation Clean Money initiated by the Income Tax Department on 31st January 2017:


i. 17.73 lakhs suspicious cases (No. of PANs) identified involving Rs. 3.68 lakh crore in 23.22 lakh bank accounts

ii. Responses of 11.18 lakh persons for 16.92 lakh bank accounts taken online

iii. Further, a total of 20,572 Income Tax Returns (ITRs) have been selected for scrutiny under Computer Assisted Scrutiny System (CASS) - 2017 in Cycle-2. Moreover, 1,16,262 notices under section 142(1) of the Income Tax Act are being issued to non-filers who deposited Rs 25 lakh or more in cash during demonetization but failed to file their return of income by the due date.


9.3. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016 (PMGKY)


i. The Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 2016 was enacted, which enabled levy of tax at a higher rate on the undisclosed income under which a person could declare his undisclosed cash by paying tax, surcharge & penalty totaling to 50% of the undisclosed income. Besides, he would have to keep 25% of the undisclosed income in Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme, interest free for 4 years.

ii. 21000 persons disclosed Rs. 4,900 crore under the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) on which Rs. 2,451 crore was collected as tax.


10. The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016: 71,726 declarations declaring undisclosed income of Rs.67,382 crore were made under the scheme


This information was shared by Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Arun Jaitley in Lok Sabha.



*****

 

[Hindustani78]

Kanpur, January 17, 2018 18:33 IST
Updated: January 17, 2018 19:06 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...n-old-notes/article22457316.ece?homepage=true

This is the biggest seizure of banned currency since notes in the denominations of ₹500 and ₹1,000 were demonetised in November, 2016.
As many as 16 people, including a noted builder, were arrested by police and demonetised currency worth ₹97 crore seized from his ancestral house at Swaroop Nagar in Kanpur.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Akhilesh Kumar Meena said on Wednesday that ₹95 crore belonged to builder Anand Khatri and the remaining amount to over a dozen others.

This is the biggest seizure of banned currency since notes in the denominations of ₹500 and ₹1,000 were demonetised in November, 2016.

Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Meena said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had gathered inputs about some companies and individuals involved in converting illegal currency into legal money and shared the information with Inspector General (IG) of Police, Kanpur, Alok Singh.

The IG collected more information about those running the racket and briefed the SSP, directing him to carry out raids discreetly. Following a tip-off, the SSP formed teams headed by SP (East) Anurag Arya and SP (West) Gaurav Grover. They nabbed four men from the Swaroop Nagar area.

Stored in gunny bags
Initially they tried to mislead the police but later, during intensive interrogation, broke down and confessed their crime, the SSP said. They divulged information about the builder. It was revealed that huge amount of demonetised currency was stored in gunny bags in the builder’s ancestral house near Gole Chauraha in Swaroop Nagar. Police later nabbed the builder, who led the team to the site where the currency was stashed, Mr. Arya told PTI.

Police also raided three hotels from where 11 people, including professor Santosh Yadav, were arrested, he said. Preliminary probe indicated that the cash was hidden with the intention of converting them into legal currency, the SP said, but discounted the possibility of any terror angle.

The arrested were identified Khatri, Santosh Yadav, key liasioner Mohit Dhingra, Sanjay Agarwal, Manish Agarwal - all residents of Kanpur, Koteshwar Rao from Andhra Pardesh, Sanjay Kumar from Varanasi, Anil Yadav from Saharanpur. Santosh Pathak and Sanjay Rai — both from Mirzapur, Ram Asrey, Dhirendra, Sanjeev Agarwal, Omkar Yadav, Ali Husain, and a woman from Andhar Pardesh whose identity was not immediately known.

 

[Hindustani78]

Rs 100 crore demonetised notes seized: Businessmen from Hyderabad, Kolkata, Varanasi arrested
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...tised-notes/story-l9nJFe4uXGyCF6fpwCvO5K.html

Sixteen people, including a prominent builder, have been arrested in connection with the seizure of nearly Rs 100 crore in demonetised currency notes kept in gunny bags stacked inside a bed from the builder’s ancestral house in Kanpur.
india Updated: Jan 17, 2018 22:34 IST
Hindustan Times, Kanpur

The currency notes were kept in bags stacked inside a bed from a builder’s ancestral house in Kanpur.(HT Photo)

Businessmen and middlemen from Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Varanasi arrived in Kanpur a few days ago and checked into various hotels to close a deal to exchange old, so-called demonetised currency notes, for new. Late on Tuesday night, the Kanpur police swooped down on a Kanpur home where they found old currency notes, lots of them, in trunks, sacks, and cartons. The police were assisted by a team from the National Investigation Agency and the Reserve Bank of India. The police also arrested 16 people.

By Wednesday morning, the police had finished counting the money. There was Rs 100 crore of it in old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, rendered invalid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise demonetisation announced last November.

“Out of 16 people who have been arrested, seven are businessmen, four are money converters and five are field agents. All of them have charged under sections 420, 511, 120B and 5/7 of the Specified Bank Notes (cessation and liability act) Act, 2017,” IG, Kanpur zone, Alok Singh told reporters.

According to Singh, the mastermind is a local businessman Anand Khatri, who, along with his men, was collecting demonetised currency notes from various businessmen for exchange and was stashing it at his house in Swaroop Nagar.

Singh said the police had been on the trail of the operation for six months based on a tip-off. The National Investigation Agency got involved after the seizure of Rs 25 crore of old demonetised currency last month in Meerut and the arrest of a property dealer.

“The group had field agents who collected the money from major cities of Uttar Pradesh and handed it over to Khatri. The money was sent to Hyderabad (for exchange into new currency notes) from Kanpur, Varanasi and Kolkata. Their commission ranged from 15-40 per cent and it depended on the desperation of the businessman concerned,” said Singh.

The arrested moneychangers from Hyderabad and Kolkata have told the police that they have paid Rs 15 crore in new currency to Khatri and Yadav in the last six months after conversion.

“They haven’t revealed their modus operandi. We will be seeking their remand from the court for pointed questioning,” Singh said.

Anand Khatri’s lawyer Sharad Kumar Birla said it was too early for him to comment on the matter.

ADG, law and order, Anand Kumar said: “All the agencies which specialise in investigating such cases have been informed. We are waiting for their support to help us identify the backward and forward linkages.”

According to the police, Khatri hit upon the idea of helping people convert their old (and value-less) currency, which they had presumably not been able to exchange because it was not declared, and recruited a clerk at DAV College, Santosh Kumar, to help him.

The duo contacted brokers Koteshwar Rao, Ali Hussain, Rajeshwari Ranga Rao, Manish Agarwal and Sanjeev Agarwal from Kolkata and Hyderabad who agreed to get the money converted. They had agreed to pay Rs 25 on every Rs 100 converted and a 10% commission for Khatri.

“As the word spread , many people from Varanasi and Mirzapur collected money from businessmen and gave it to Khatri,” said a person familiar with the investigation who asked not to be named.

The police seized Rs 96 crore from Khatri’s house for which they had to arrange five trunks of 4x6 feet. The counting of currency notes lasted 12 hours and the police had to use 37 machines and 80 men for the task.

The tipping point in the investigation seems to have been the arrest of the Meerut property dealer. He led the team to the middlemen in Hyderabad.

The police believe that Non Resident Indians may have been used to facilitate the exchange. According to Singh, Rao, one of the arrested has named aa Hyderabad based company which has many employees, many of them NRIs, posted overseas. The exact modus operandi isn’t clear because the window allowed to NRIs to exchange old currency notes has long closed.

“We are verifying the veracity of their disclosure; it will take some time to come up with a clear picture about they were doing it,” Singh added.

The income tax department officials who raided the house found a diary with mysterious entries, sources privy to the investigation said.

The entries made in the diary are cryptic and are being deciphered to help the police move ahead with their investigation, they said.

“The IT sleuths confiscated the diary which has entries in alphabetical order. The contents of the diary were being studied. Prima facie it appears that the entries mention the money being paid to Khatri,” an official said.

“We will confront Khatri when he is remanded to police custody for further questioning,” he said.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...-crore-fine/story-Vo4R1fQ0NhWBXKGW0IcF1M.html

Anand Khatri, the businessman from whose house demonetised notes worth Rs 96.62 crore were seized in Kanpur’s Swaroop Nagar locality on Tuesday, may end up paying almost Rs 483 crore as a fine.

A case has been registered by the UP police against Khatri under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, for keeping demonetised notes over the permitted limit in his possession.

“Keeping the demonetised notes is punishable by a fine, which may extend to five times the amount recovered,” said Vivek Khanna, former chairman, Central India Regional Council of Chartered Accountants. In Khatri’s case, this translates to about Rs 483.1 crore if the police choose to enforce the penal provisions and he is found guilty.

With a law passed in Parliament early last year, possession of more than 10 pieces of the old notes by individuals and more than 25 pieces for study, research or numismatics is a criminal offence, attracting a fine of Rs 10,000 or five times the cash held, whichever is higher.

IG Kanpur Zone Alok Singh said the police are looking into it. It is a procedural matter and the first one its kind, he said. An income tax department official said it will help the police in building a foolproof case against Khatri and others. Since the police have fled the case under sections of the IPC and SBN Act, it would have to initiate the proceedings for the recovery of the fine through a process that involves property attachment, the official said

Since the authorities found the demonetized notes from the house that Khatri officially owns, the money will be treated as belonging to him, the official said. Khatri, when questioned, has said that part of the Rs 96.62 crore found in his house was his but the rest belonged to others.

“The people he names will be questioned about their shares. Let us see, if they admit. If they do not, Khatri will have to pay the fine,” said the I-T official.

Meanwhile, I-T department officials carried out searches for the second day on premises owned by Khatri and his family, who primarily dealt in real estate. Documents of 40 properties and Rs 3 lakh cash was found in one of the offices. Another team is matching the stock at one of his showrooms and questioning two of his brothers in Nayagunj.

Most of the property documents found were in the name of others.

“We will be sending the documents to the Benami wing; it will summon the people in whose names the properties are listed for questioning,” said the I-T official.

The I-T and police departments plan to question Khatri again after getting his custody. He was sent to judicial custody early Thursday morning.

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[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Corporate Affairs
29-January, 2018 20:41 IST
No Association with ‘IBBI Insolvency Practitioners LLP’

It has come to the notice of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) that there is a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) by the name “IBBI Insolvency Practitioners LLP”.

It is clarified that:

a. IBBI has Not authorised any person to use it’s name in any form, whether abbreviated or otherwise;

b. “IBBI Insolvency Practitioners LLP” is Not registered as an Insolvency Professional Entity with IBBI; and

c. IBBI has No association whatsoever with “IBBI Insolvency Practitioners LLP”.

The stakeholders are advised to consider the above clarification while dealing with “IBBI Insolvency Practitioners LLP”.

This is issued in public interest.

***

Ministry of Finance
29-January, 2018 20:40 IST
Auction for Sale (Re-issue)? ?of Government Stocks.

The Government of India has announced the Sale (re-issue) of (i) “6.84 per cent Government Stock, 2022” for a notified amount of Rs. 3,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, (ii) “7.17 per cent Government Stock, 2028” for a notified amount of Rs. 8,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction. Subject to the limit of Rs.

11,000 crore, being total notified amount, Government of India will have the option to retain additional subscription up to Rs. 1,000 crore each against any one or more of the above securities. The auctions will be conducted using multiple price method. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on February 02, 2018 (Friday).

Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.

Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on February 02, 2018. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 12.00 noon.

The result of the auctions will be announced on February 02, 2018 (Friday) and payment by successful bidders will be on February 05, 2018 (Monday).

The Stocks will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) vide Circular No. RBI/2006-07/178 dated November 16, 2006 as amended from time to time.

***

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Ec...31-i-t-dept/article22702474.ece?homepage=true

The Income Tax Department today urged those who deposited “large amounts of cash” post demonetisation and all companies to file their returns by March 31, failing which they may face penalty and prosecution.

It also cautioned eligible trusts, political parties and associations to file their income tax returns by this final deadline and “come clean”.

The department, in public advertisements issued in leading dailies, said it was the final call for filing of belated or revised ITRs for assessment years 2016-17 and 2017-18.

It underlined that there was still time for these categories of taxpayers and that they should avoid last minute rush and file the ITRs well before the deadline.

“If you have deposited large amounts of cash in your bank account/made high value transactions, please consider the same while filling your ITRs.

Non-filing or incorrect filing of return of income may result in penalty and prosecution,” the public advisory said.

It said all companies, firms and limited liability partnership concerns were also required to do so.

The deadline is also applicable, it said, to trusts, associations and political parties whose income prior to claim of exemptions exceeds the minimum chargeable to tax.

Individuals and Hindu Undivided Families having income more than ₹2.5 lakh and senior citizens with income of over ₹3 lakh (60-80 years of age) and ₹5 lakh (over 80 years of age) too need to file their returns for the mentioned assessment years, it said.

 

[Hindustani78]

MUMBAI, February 14, 2018 11:19 IST
Updated: February 14, 2018 13:14 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/business/ma...177-billion/article22749241.ece?homepage=true

The bank says fraud was detected at one of its branches in Mumbai; Its shares fall more than 6% on Wednesday.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) ihas said that it has found fraudulent transactions totalling over $1.77 billion in one of its branches in Mumbai. This was followed by its shares falling more than 6% on Wednesday

“The bank has detected some fraudulent and unauthorised transactions [messages] in one of its branches in Mumbai for the benefit of a few select account holders with their apparent connivance... The quantum of such transactions is $1771.69 million [approx]. The matter is referred to the law enforcement agencies to examine and book the culprits as per the law of the land," said the bank in a stock exchange announcement.

At 11:10 a.m., the shares were trading at ₹151.15, down ₹10.50 or 6.50%. The shares were in the red even as the broader market was marginally in the green.

“Based on these transactions, other banks appear to have advanced money to these customers abroad. In the bank, these transactions are contingent in nature, and liability arising out of these on the bank shall be decided based on the law and genuineness of underlying transactions,” the statement said.

Last week, the CBI registered a case against diamond merchant Nirav Modi, his wife, brother and a business partner, for allegedly cheating the PNB of over Rs. 280 crore in conspiracy with bank officials. Retired PNB deputy manager Gokulnath Shetty and staff Manoj Kharat have also been named as accused in the case.

 

[Hindustani78]

File photo of SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar | Photo Credit: Reuters

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...rore-exposure-through-pnb/article22774002.ece

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, on Friday said it has an exposure of about ₹1,360 crore ($212 million) in respect to a letter of undertaking (LoU) issued by the Punjab National Bank (PNB) to Nirav Modi, but does not have any direct exposure to the absconding jewellery designer.

“We don’t have any direct exposure on Nirav Modi but we do have some exposure on Punjab National Bank,” State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters here today.

He said the bank has lent $212 million to Mr. Modi on the basis of a Letter of Understanding (LoU) issued by PNB.

Mr. Kumar, however, said the bank has some exposure to Gitanjali Gems, owned by Mehul Choksi, uncle of Nirav Modi.

“Our exposure to Gitanjali Gems is small we and we are not worried,” Mr. Kumar said.

When asked about the SBI’s exposure to the entire gems and jewellery sector, he said it was less than 1% of the total domestic loan book.

“My domestic loan book is ₹16 lakh crore and, the gems and jewellery sector exposure is less than ₹13,000 crore, which is less than 1%,” he said.

He said the bank is very careful as far as the gems and jewellery industry is concerned, and has been taking steps to put in place a lot of risk mitigation measures for accounts from the sector.

He said the SBI has an elaborate system of risk management and internal audits, and that the robustness of that system is very well recognised.

“One of the risk management practices we follow is job rotation. We don’t keep a person for more than three years at one position. There are certain positions that are very sensitive and we monitor those positions very closely,” Mr. Kumar said.

He said the Swift system and the core banking system (CBS) in SBI are integrated.

Mr. Kumar said banking is a risky business and risks are of different types, such as credit risks, operational risks, market risks and foreign currency risks.

“Operational risk is always an unknown risk. Credit risk a calculated risk ... you know during the appraisal about the probability of default,” he said.

Banks need to manage the risks by creating awareness about the risks, having standard operating procedures, strict compliance of these procedures, and having a strong oversight.

“Ultimately, we are human beings who do the transactions and banks run on the trust. But if there is a breach of trust by any individual, you have to have a process for detection,” he said.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the offices of jewellery retailer Gitanjali in a widening probe into a Rs 11,400 crore loan fraud at state-run Punjab National Bank, the biggest bank scam in the country’s history. The external affairs ministry announced it has suspended the passports of billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, the central figure in the fraud, and his uncle Mehul Choksi, who leads the Gitanjali group. A ministry spokesperson said it doesn’t know where Modi is.

 

[El Sidd]

I thought the iranian president will open an atm today....

 

[Hindustani78]

Cabinet
20-February, 2018 13:17 IST
Cabinet approves New Bill to ban Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018

In a major policy initiative to protect the savings of the investors, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to introduce the following bills in the Parliament:-



(a) Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 in parliament &

(b) Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018



The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018



The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given approval to introduce the banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 in Parliament. The bill is aimed at tackling the menace of illicit deposit taking activities in the country. Companies/ institutions running such schemes exploit existing regulatory gaps and lack of strict administrative measures to dupe poor and gullible people of their hard-earned savings.



Details:



The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 will provide a comprehensive legislation to deal with the menace of illicit deposit schemes in the country through,

1. complete prohibition of unregulated deposit taking activity;
2. deterrent punishment for promoting or operating an unregulated deposit taking scheme;
3. stringent punishment for fraudulent default in repayment to depositors;
4. designation of a Competent Authority by the State Government to ensure repayment of deposits in the event of default by a deposit taking establishment;
5. powers and functions of the competent authority including the power to attach assets of a defaulting establishment;
6. designation of Courts to oversee repayment of depositors and to try offences under the Act; and
7. listing of Regulated Deposit Schemes in the Bill, with a clause enabling the Central Government to expand or prune the list.

Salient Features:



The salient features of the Bill are as follows:

• The Bill contains a substantive banning clause which bans Deposit Takers from promoting, operating, issuing advertisements or accepting deposits in any Unregulated Deposit Scheme. The principle is that the Bill would ban unregulated deposit taking activities altogether, by making them an offence ex-ante, rather than the existing legislative-cum-regulatory framework which only comes into effect ex-post with considerable time lags.
• The Bill creates three different types of offences, namely, running of Unregulated Deposit Schemes, fraudulent default in Regulated Deposit Schemes, and wrongful inducement in relation to Unregulated Deposit Schemes.
• The Bill provides for severe punishment and heavy pecuniary fines to act as deterrent.
• The Bill has adequate provisions for disgorgement or repayment of deposits in cases where such schemes nonetheless manage to raise deposits illegally.
• The Bill provides for attachment of properties/ assets by the Competent Authority, and subsequent realization of assets for repayment to depositors.
• Clear-cut time lines have been provided for attachment of property and restitution to depositors.
• The Bill enables creation of an online central database, for collection and sharing of information on deposit taking activities in the country.
• The Bill defines "Deposit Taker" and "Deposit" comprehensively.
• "Deposit Takers" include all possible entities (including individuals) receiving or soliciting deposits, except specific entities such as those incorporated by legislation.
• "Deposit" is defined in such a manner that deposit takers are restricted from camouflaging public deposits as receipts, and at the same time not to curb or hinder acceptance of money by an establishment in the ordinary course of its business.
• Being a comprehensive Union law, the Bill adopts best practices from State laws, while entrusting the primary responsibility of implementing the provisions of the legislation to the State Governments.

Background:



The Finance Minister in the Budget Speech 2016-17 had announced that a comprehensive central legislation wouldbe brought in to deal with the menace of illicit deposit taking schemes, as in the recent past, there have been rising instances of people in various parts of the country beingdefrauded by illicit deposit taking schemes. The worst victims of these schemes are the poor and the financially illiterate, and the operations of such schemes are oftenspread over many States. Subsequently, Finance Minister in the Budget Speech 2017-18 had announced that the draft bill to curtail the menace of illicit deposit schemes had been placed in the public domain and would be introduced shortly after its finalization.



The Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018



The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to introduce the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018 in Parliament. In order to facilitate orderly growth of the Chit Funds sector and remove bottlenecks being faced by the Chit Funds industry, thereby enabling greater financial access of people to other financial products, the following amendments to the Chit Funds Act, 1982 have been proposed:

• Use of the words "Fraternity Fund" for chit business under Sections 2(b) and 11(1) of the Chit Funds Act, 1982, to signify its inherent nature, and distinguish its working from "Prize Chits" which are banned under a separate legislation;
• While retaining the requirement of a minimum of two subscribers for the conduct of the draw of the Chit and for the preparation of the minutes of the proceedings, the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018 proposes to allow the two minimum required subscribers to join through video conferencing duly recorded by the foreman, as physical presence of the subscribers towards the final stages of a Chit may not be forthcoming easily. The foreman shall have the minutes of the proceedings signed by such subscribers within a period of two days following the proceedings;
• Increasing the ceiling of foreman's commission from a maximum of 5% to 7%, as the rate has remained static since the commencement of the Act while overheads and other costs have increased manifold;
• Allowing the foreman a right to lien for the dues from subscribers, so that set-off is allowed by the Chit company for subscribers who have already drawn funds, so as to discourage default by them; and
• Amending Section 85 (b) of the Chit Funds Act, 1982 to remove the ceiling of one hundred rupees set in 1982 at the time of framing the Chit Funds Act, which has lost its relevance. The State Governments are proposed to be allowed to prescribe the ceiling and to increase it from time to time.

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[Hindustani78]

The Press Reporters of Patliputra Constituency of Bihar, calling on the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley, in New Delhi on February 21, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Finance
30-August, 2018 18:28 IST
Demonetisation and its impact on Tax collection and Formalisation of the Economy - Arun Jaitley

The Reserve Bank has twice released its reports stating that the demonetised Notes of `500 and `1000 have been substantially deposited in the Banks. A widely stated comment has been that just because most of the currency came back into the Banks, the object of Demonetisation has not succeeded. Was the invalidation of the Non-deposited currency the only object of demonetisation? Certainly Not. The larger purpose of demonetisation was to move INDIA from a Tax Non-compliant society to a compliant society. This necessarily involved the formalisation of the Economy and a blow to the black money. How has this been achieved?

• WHEN cash is deposited in the Banks, the anonymity about the owner of the cash disappears. The deposited cash is now identified with its owner giving rise to an inquiry, whether the amount deposited is in consonance with the depositor’s income. Accordingly, post demonetisation about 1.8 million depositors have been identified for this enquiry. Many of them are being fastened with Tax and Penalties. Mere deposit of cash in a bank does not lead to a presumption that it is Tax paid Money.

• In March 2014, the number of Income Tax returns filed was 3.8 crores. In 2017-18, this figure has grown to 6.86 crores. In the last two years, when the impact of demonetisation and other steps is analysed, the Income Tax returns have increased by 19% and 25%. This is a phenomenal increase.

• The number of New Returns filed post demonetisation increased in the past two years by 85.51 Lakhs and 1.07 crores.

• For 2018-19, advance Tax in the first quarter has increased for personal Income Tax Assesses by 44.1% and in the Corporate Tax category by 17.4%.

• The Income Tax collections have increased from the 2013-14 figure of `6.38 Lakh crores to the 2017-18 figure of `10.02 Lakh crores.

• The growth of Income Tax collections in the Pre-demonetisation two years was 6.6% and 9%. Post-demonetisation, the collections increased by 15% and 18% in the next two years. The same trend is visible in the third year.

• The GST was implemented from 1st July, 2017 i.e. Post demonetisation. In the very first year, the number of registered assesses has increased by 72.5%. The original 66.17 Lakh assesses has increased to 114.17 Lakhs.

This is the positive impact of the Demonetisation. More formalisation of the Economy, More Money in the System, Higher Tax Revenue, Higher Expenditure, Higher Growth after the first two quarters.

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