StartUp India and Viacom18 join hands

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Viacom18, the television media house that owns and runs channels Colors and MTV, has signed an agreement with the Union government’s department of industrial policy and promotion’s Start-Up India project.

It will launch a year-long ‘outreach programme’ for entrepreneurs, called MTV Kickstart. The initiative will include activities on-ground, digital communication and a TV reality show.

While the Viacom18 brand attached to the programme is MTV, the network’s youth brand, all entities under the former’s umbrella will be mobilised.

The multi-platform initiative is to reach out to young and aspiring entrepreneurs through multiple touch-points across 300 colleges. Around 10 Start-Up Festivals, two-day events in tier-1 & 2 cities, will be organised, allowing youth to interact with top entrepreneurs and investors.

Amitabh Kant, secretary of the government’s department, said: “This will help us engage with dynamic youth and inspire a new generation to follow their dreams and become successful entrepreneurs.”

“The programme will look at a variety of start-ups — in tech and engineering, in the social space, in art and culture and, could be, in the media, too. We are working on the amount of seed money. It will come from a combination of entities across sponsors and VC (venture capital entities). One of the things we want to do is provide mentorship. It becomes critical in making the ideas commercially viable,” says Sudhanshu Vats, group chief executive of Viacom18.

The reality show will go on air in the third quarter of this calendar year. The format would mostly be developed in-house by the network and include a competition, where shortlisted start-ups or entrepreneurs from various on-ground activities under the programme are to compete before a jury for home seed funding.

“Through a process of auditions, we will shortlist the contestants, who will then be participants in the televised reality show. We’ll end the process with an awards show, also televised. The idea is not to make it too formal and intimidating. The MTV brand will help with this. While it’s not frivolous, it will help ease the contestants. It can be quite intimidating for anyone with an idea who does not know much about setting up a business (to present the idea). So, we are looking at people who don’t yet have a start-up but have ideas that can be turned into businesses,” says Ferzad Palia, head of youth and English entertainment at Viacom18.

The network is in talks with brands which want to market to youth and will soon announce the commercial partners. These brands will get visibility on all platforms the outreach programme is present on and across the Viacom18 network.

In December 2015, Zee Bangla, in association with the West Bengal government, launched Egiye Bangla, a start-up reality show. The format was similar to Shark Tank, a reality show for start-ups on the ABC television network in America. Each round had five contestants and each pitched his idea to investors. The latter included Anjan Chatterjee of Speciality Restaurants; Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, managing director of Bandhan Bank, and Ashok Banerjee, a professor at IIM-Calcutta. The show was aired in the 6–7 pm slot on Sundays and launched with 744,000 impressions on television viewers on December 6, 2015, and clocked 441,000 average impressions or TV viewership through the season, according to data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/startup-india-and-viacom18-join-hands-116021800787_1.html

Tax refunds of Rs 1 lakh cr issued so far in FY16: Adhia

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The move is aimed at reducing taxpayer grievances and promoting tax-friendly environment

The Income Tax department has issued refunds worth Rs 1 lakh crore till January in the current fiscal, the Finance Ministry said today.

“Income Tax department has so far issued refunds of Rs 1 lakh crore to 1.75 crore assessees in 10 months of 2015-16 fiscal,” Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted.

Aimed at reducing taxpayer grievances and promoting tax-friendly environment, Central Board of Direct Taxes had in December asked officers to issue refunds of amounts less than Rs 50,000 expeditiously.

CBDT had also directed field officers make refunds of up to Rs 5,000. In addition, it directed that refunds, which also have cases of dues of up to Rs 5,000, may be issued without any adjustment of outstanding arrears.

“This (Refund) has created major relief to tax payers. This demonstrates Government’s intention to create a tax-friendly environment,” Adhia said.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/tax-refunds-of-rs-1-lakh-cr-issued-so-far-in-fy16-adhia-116020800506_1.html

I-T Dept cautions on sharing PINs

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The Income-Tax Department today cautioned taxpayers not to share their PIN or password of mails saying it never ask for such details.

In a statement, the department said it is to ensure that taxpayers are aware the department does not seek confidential or financial information of the taxpayer over email.

“The Income Tax Department never asks for your PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts through e-mail,” it said.

“The Income Tax Department appeals to taxpayers not to respond to such emails and NOT to share information relating to their credit card, bank and other financial accounts,” it added.

The Income-Tax Department has been at the forefront of using technology in implementing its e-governance initiatives, it said, adding, most of its routine communication to taxpayers is through email and SMS.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/policy/it-dept-cautions-on-sharing-pins/article8198981.ece

CBDT lays down norms for e-assessments

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CBDTThe Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has laid down operational guidelines for e-assessments of select non-corporate taxpayers to be undertaken as a pilot in five metros.

 

It has now specified the format and standards for ensuring secured transmission of electronic communication between the taxpayer and the Income-Tax Department.

 

The move comes three months after the CBDT announced its intent use ‘electronic mail’-based communication for assessment.

 

It had then announced that a pilot project would be launched in five “non-corporate charges” at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Chennai.

 

Non-corporate charges

 

Non-corporate charges are those dealing with assessments of individuals, Hindu Undivided Families and partnerships.

 

Initially, 100 cases would be identified for e-hearing in each of these five regions and a major part of the assessment would be done electronically, the CBDT had then decided. Only cases taken up for scrutiny were to be covered under the pilot.

 

Commenting on the move, Aseem Chawla, Partner, MPC Legal, a law firm, said: “If this IT-enabled exercise does succeed, it would usher in a new era in taxpayers’ interaction with tax department in making the process, simpler, economical and hassle-free.”

 

Amit Maheshwari, Partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates, a CA firm, said, “The guidelines allay various concerns of the taxpayers on the scheme and once it’s successful would enable quick percolation across the entire tax department and make it a standard practice. One good move is that the communication status would be displayed to the taxpayer in their online account.

 

“This would prevent missed dates, miscommunications and effective follow-ups.”

 

Vikas Vasal, Partner –Tax, KPMG in India, said the Centre has clarified the procedural aspects of usage of electronic communication regarding paperless assessment proceedings.

 

Saving time

 

“Gradually, the aim is to move most of the communication to the electronic format.

 

“Once done, it would save time and effort both for the tax payers and the tax department.

 

“Also, it would bring in more transparency and consistency in tax positions” .

 

A number of tax simplification measures have been announced by the government recently and more are expected in the forthcoming Union Budget, he added.

 

“If this IT-enabled exercise does succeed, it would usher in a new era in taxpayers’ interaction with the department in making the process, simpler, economical and hassle free”.

 

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/cbdt-lays-down-norms-for-eassessments/article8200085.ece

RBI proposes easier access to foreign capital for start-ups

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy statement, has proposed steps to improve ease of doing business for start-ups through easier access to foreign capital and by enabling smoother transfer of ownership. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the central bank wants to simplify the process and will create an enabling framework for attracting foreign venture capital (VC).

“We are supporting the start-up process by making it easier to raise (capital), often from abroad, but also simplify the compliance with regulations, including putting forms online,” Rajan said during the post-policy press conference on Tuesday.

For easing cross-border transactions, RBI has proposed (in consultation with the government of India) that in case of transfer of ownership of a start-up, permitting receipt of the consideration amount on a deferred basis could be done. It has also proposed to enable escrow arrangement or indemnity arrangement up to a period of 18 months.

In addition, RBI has also proposed (in consultation with the government) to permit start-ups access to rupee loans under the external commercial borrowings framework with relaxations of eligible lenders. It is also looking at issuing innovative foreign direct investment (FDI) instruments like convertible notes by start-ups. Further, RBI is looking into the proposal of issuing shares without cash payment through sweat equity or against any legitimate payment owed by the company, the remittance of which does not require any permission under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema).

Harish H V, partner, Grant Thornton India LLP, said these measures are for helping start-ups in their operations and fundraising. “We look forward to further relaxations around convertible notes as promised. These steps, together with the start-up action plan and more initiatives expected from the ministry of corporate affairs and the Budget, should help the cause of the Stay In India and creating value in India… Every step counts,” he said.

RBI said the aim was to enable start-ups, irrespective of the sector, to receive foreign VC investment and also enable transfer of shares from foreign VC investors to other residents or non-residents.

The central bank has also proposed simplifying the process for dealing with delayed reporting of FDI-related transactions by building a penalty structure into the regulations. The notifications/circulars under Fema, wherever necessary, will be issued shortly.

The regulator said electronic reporting of investment and subsequent transactions will be made on the e-Biz platform only. Here, submission of physical forms will be discontinued with effect from February 8.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/rbi-proposes-easier-access-to-foreign-capital-for-start-ups-116020200565_1.html

Bank of Baroda scam: RBI tells banks to conduct internal audit

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All public sector and private banks have been asked by the Reserve Bank of India to conduct a “thorough internal audit” and put the report before their respective audit committees, as part of the central bank’s efforts to check fraudulent foreign exchange transactions. The move comes in the wake of irregularities that came to light last year in Rs 6,100-crore import remittances effected by Bank of Baroda’s Ashok Vihar branch in New Delhi.

A circular has been issued to all scheduled commercial banks, advising them to conduct a thorough internal audit and place the report before audit committee of the board of the respective banks and to forward the summary of findings to RBI, the central bank said in reply to an RTI query filed by PTI. The RBI was asked to provide details of action being taken by it to check fraudulent forex transactions by banks. “We are in the process of receiving the internal audit report from various banks,”it said.

The RBI has asked Bank of Baroda to conduct a bank-wide review of the outward remittances to rule out similar wrong doings at other domestic branches and submit a report thereof to it. The bank has since completed the internal audit and placed the report before its audit committee for directions. The Bank of Baroda has also selected a consultant to review its Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) policy and practices, to set up robust systems, the central bank said.

“They have also framed a policy for advance import remittance which covers system check points like cooling period of six months in respect of newly opened account, multiple transactions in a day for $100,000 and below, etc,” the RBI said.

Both the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are probing remittances of Rs 6,100 crore to Hong Kong from the Bank of Baroda’s Ashok Vihar branch.

The huge transaction is believed to be trade-based money laundering as the amount was transferred in the garb of payments for imports that never took place, investigators say.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/bob-forex-scam-rbi-tells-all-banks-to-conduct-internal-audit-116013100149_1.html

Foreign firms rush to India’s online marketplace

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India’s booming online marketplace business has attracted a new wave of merchants and sellers from countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the US. In fact, thousands of sellers are getting into tie-ups with Indian e-commerce players to kick-start operations in the country.

 

According to industry insiders, around 50,000 sellers from China, South Korea and Singapore are planning to enter India through online marketplace players.

 

“In business-to-business (B2B) segment, there is no online organised player in the country right now. The market is being created for the online businesses,” said Sanjay Sethi, co-founder and CEO of Shopclues. The company has brought in DHgate, the second largest player in China after Alibaba, on to its platform. It’s also getting 25,000 South Korean merchants on board. Tie-ups are also in process with Singapore Traders Association to enable them to sell on Shopclues.

 

American retail major Walmart is also exploring ways to tie up with leading e-commerce companies in India, including Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues, Grofers and Bigbasket. It is learnt that German wholesale giant Metro Cash and Carry is also in talks with e-commerce marketplace players to sell its products online.

 

Meanwhile, e-commerce giant Alibaba is looking to make a big bang entry into India’s marketplace via One97 Communications-owned Paytm.

 

Alibaba is expected to be the support behind Paytm’s China product portfolio. With that in place, Paytm will aim to become the biggest Indian player insofar as the number of sellers on the platform is concerned. With eight million sellers, Alibaba has the widest seller range as well as product portfolio.

 

This is not for the first time that Paytm is planning to sell Alibaba’s product range. During Diwali last year, Paytm had the whole product catalogue sourced from Alibaba and merchants from China were directly shipping products to customers in India, saving Paytm the hassle of finding warehouses.

 

As for the second top player in China, DHgate, online B2B would be a gateway into India and an opportunity to get connected to 350,000 sellers through the Shopclues portal.

 

DHgate plans to list its products across categories, including electronics, accessories, beauty products and sports. “From China we are getting around 10,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) listed. It is not a retail business and the target audience for this business are other businesses in India,” said Sethi.

 

The foreign investment rules vary across retail platforms and companies often resort to complex structuring to bypass policy. While foreign direct investment (FDI) is capped at 51 per cent in multi-brand retail with states having the last say on whether international players would be permitted to operate or not, there’s no limit of foreign investment in single-brand and business-to-business or cash and carry.

 

In e-commerce, however, FDI is not permitted. But, e-commerce players are mostly run with foreign money by operating marketplace platforms, where rules have not been framed yet.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/foreign-firms-rush-to-india-s-online-marketplace-116020100015_1.html