SBT, SBI General Insurance ties up for affordable health plan

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/sbt-sbi-general-insurance-ties-up-for-affordable-health-plan/article5401366.ece

State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and SBI General Insurance today jointly launched an affordable health insurance plan for SBT customers.

“SBI General Insurance and SBT today jointly announced the launch of SBI General’s Group Health Insurance Policy exclusively for SBT account holders and their families,” SBI General said in a release.

In terms of affordability, for a 35-year-old adult the policy will cost Rs 1,300 per year to have an Rs 100,000 cover which means Rs 3.56 per day.

The policy has benefits such as multiple coverage options, no pre—policy medical test up to age of 65 years for people with no medical history, 142 day care procedures covered, guaranteed renewal upon option.

Besides, it also offers coverage of pre and post—hospitalisation expenses transparent claim process and cashless treatment across over 3,000 hospitals in the network.

India has one of the highest out—of—pocket health care expenditures in the world. One of the major reasons that India’s poor incur debt is the cost of health, Bhaskar J Sarma, MD & CEO of SBI General Insurance said.

“What we really need is a health insurance which is priced just right and affordable for the vast majority of people. Health insurance that is affordable is the key for penetrating further in semi—urban and rural areas.

SBI General’s Health Insurance Policy is designed to protect the happiness of the family with its affordable premium,” Sarma said.

Tata Sons withdraws application for new bank license: RBI

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/tata-sons-withdraws-application-for-new-bank-license-rbi/articleshow/26475451.cms

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, has withdrawn its application for a domestic banking license, RBI said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The company has indicated that its current financial services operating model best supports the needs of the Tata Group's domestic and overseas strategy, and provides adequate operating flexibility to its companies, while securing the interests of the Group's diverse stakeholder base," the Reserve Bank of India said.

The RBI has accepted the application withdrawal request, according to the statement.

Tata Sons had filed the application on July 1, according to the RBI. 

SC: No overkill in cheque bounce cases

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/sc-no-overkill-in-cheque-bounce-cases-113112500012_1.html

Once the amount in a dishonoured cheque is paid with interest and compensation, the payee cannot insist on criminal prosecution of the directors of a firm who issued the cheque. 

The object of Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, which makes issuing of cheques without sufficient balance in the account an offence, is meant to "inculcate faith in the efficacy of banking operations and credibility of transactions. It is not meant only to punish the guilty," the Supreme Court has stated in the judgment, Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete India Ltd vs Sukarsh Azad.

In this case, directors of a construction company issued a cheque to Lafarge, but it was dishonoured by the bank leading to a criminal complaint before the magistrate. The directors moved the high court and offered to pay the amount with interest. The high court, therefore, quashed the complaint. Lafarge was not satisfied with that and appealed to the Supreme Court for prosecution of the directors.

The court dismissed the appeal observing that the directors were willing to pay double the amount. It stated that Lafarge did not appear before the high court without sufficient reason, leading to an ex parte order quashing the complaint. Moreover, it approached the Supreme Court after a long lapse of time. Under these circumstances, "if the amount offered including interest and compensation was not acceptable to Lafarge, it is their choice," the judgment said, "but that would not allow them to prosecute the directors in pursuance of the complaint."

Will oppose RBI move to permit foreign bank takeover of domestic lenders: AIBEA

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/will-oppose-rbi-move-to-permit-foreign-bank-takeover-of-domestic-lenders-union/article5233557.ece

The All-India Bank Employees Association on Monday said it will launch an agitation if the Reserve Bank of India goes ahead with any proposal to allow take over of Indian banks by foreign banks.

“We strongly oppose the RBI Governor’s proposals aimed at takeover of our banks by foreign banks. These are against our country’s interest,” said C. H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary of the Association.

The Association is opposed to the statement reportedly made by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in Washington to the effect that the central bank will soon unveil major banking reforms, which will entail allowing foreign banks to take over domestic banks.

At present, 80 per cent of the banking sector in India is under public sector, another 15 per cent under private sector and only about 5 per cent are foreign banks.

“Foreign banks have never contributed to our country’s economic growth and development. They are interested only in profits and have no role in social banking.

“Some of these foreign banks have also been involved in various scams in the past. Their licences should have been cancelled, but unfortunately the RBI Governor wants to encourage them,” said Venkatachalam in a statement.

CRISIS PRONE

Pointing out that Indian banks deal with more than Rs 70 lakh crore of public money as deposits, the AIBEA said the country cannot afford to liberalise its regulations.

The experience of the US and other countries shows that liberalised banking regulations have led to crises and collapse of banks.

Hundreds of banks in the US have been closed in the last few years. The US Government has bailed out the big banks in their country.

However, public sector banks in India are functioning well and do not face such crisis.

Missed the tax filing deadline? Know what to do

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/tax-savers/tax-news/missed-the-tax-filing-deadline-know-what-to-do/articleshow/21574407.cms

The surge in the number of e-filers on 31 July, the last day for filing income tax returns, overloaded the system and forced the government to extend the deadline to 5 August. This last-minute rush has become a regular feature in the past few years. The system gets overloaded because a large number of taxpayers wait till the last day. In the melee, many of them are unable to file by the due date.

The rush is greater this year because of the new rule that if your taxable income is Rs 5 lakh and above, it is mandatory to e-file your return. Also, if you have foreign assets, you have to take the online route even if the income is below Rs 5 lakh.

There are other reasons why a taxpayer may miss the filing deadline. There could be mistakes in their Form 16 or TDS details, which could not be resolved in time. It is also possible that the details of foreign assets, which have to be mentioned in the tax returns, were not available, or perhaps, the taxpayer was too ill to file his return. If, however, you have missed the extended deadline as well, the good news is that the Income Tax Department allows you to file your returns till 31 March 2014, the last day of the assessment year.

However, missing the filing deadline is not an earth shattering event. The online filing data reveals that the biggest surge in tax filing is witnessed not on 31 July but on 31 March the next year. This year, for instance, the peak daily rate of receipt of returns was clocked on 31 March when 7.5 lakh taxpayers filed their returns. If all taxes are paid, a taxpayer will not face any penalty or get a notice for non-filing.

However, if there is some tax to be paid, he will have to shell out a 1% late payment fee for every month of delay since April 2013. If the tax due is more than Rs 10,000, the taxpayer should have paid an advance tax. Advance tax is payable in three tranches— 30% is to be paid by 15 July of the financial year, 60% by 15 December and 100% by 31 March. If advance tax has not been paid, the penalty per month will be applicable from the due date of the advance tax.

There is more good news for the lazy taxpayer. If you miss the 31 March 2014 deadline, you can still file the return. This means you can file last year's return as well. However, such returns will be treated as belated and the assessing officer can levy a penalty of Rs 5,000 for late filing.

Though the tax laws give you a grace period if you file your return late, you also forego some of your rights as a taxpayer. For one, you cannot modify your tax return if it has been filed after the due date. If you have filed by the due date (5 August for this year), you can modify it any number of times before the end of the assessment year or till the return is assessed. However, after the due date, you are not allowed to modify it. So if you miss any deduction or exemption, you can't claim it later.

You also cannot carry forward any shortterm or long-term losses if you have filed after the due date. The taxpayers who file by the due date can carry forward capital losses and adjust them against future capital gains. They can also carry forward these losses up to eight financial years. So, if you suffered capital losses in 2012-13, these can be adjusted against gains made till 2020-21. This benefit is not available to the late filer.

RBI's steps to buy redemption for rupee

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rbis-24-steps-to-buy-redemption-for-rupee/1146078/0

Below is a list of currency-related measures from Indian policy makers this year:

JULY

* RBI further lowers banks' limit on borrowing under daily liquidity adjustment facility (LAF); increases banks' cash reserve ratio requirements, announces 60 billion rupees sale in cash management bills.

* RBI tightens gold imports again, making them dependent on export volumes

* RBI raises the Marginal Standing Facility rate and Bank Rate, caps banks' limit on borrowing under daily LAF and announces sale of 120 billion rupees in debt via open market operations.

* RBI extends relaxation of the all-in-cost ceiling for issuers of external commercial debt

* India's regulators toughen rules for derivatives trading in currency markets

* RBI eases rules for non-bank asset finance companies to raise debt overseas

* RBI introduces provisioning, capital requirements for bank exposed to corporates with unhedged FX

JUNE

* India further tightens gold import rules

* RBI extends buyback time period of foreign currency convertible bonds until Dec. 31

* RBI allows telecommunications companies to refinance rupee loans until March

* RBI tightens gold lending norms for regional rural banks

* RBI eases rules for low-cost builders to access overseas loans, hedge entire borrowing

* RBI relaxes some forex option premium payment rules

* RBI asks exporters to realise dollar earnings and bring them back into the country within one year

* RBI restricts loans against gold coins by co-operative banks

* India fin min says RBI advised banks not to sell gold coins

* India raises gold duty to 8 percent

* RBI extends gold import curbs on nominated and trading agencies

MAY

* RBI mulls easing hedging norms for exporters, importers

* RBI cuts timeframe for exporters to repatriate earnings

Banks seek lower tenure for non-resident deposits

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/banks-seek-lower-tenure-for-nonresident-deposits/article4905576.ece

To attract more dollars into the domestic market, bankers have requested the Reserve Bank of India to cut the minimum period of investment in Foreign Currency Non Resident (FCNR) and Non Resident External (NRE) account to six months from one year now.

FCNR deposits, which have a minimum tenure of one year and a maximum of five, can be opened by overseas Indians with banks in India.

NRE deposits are also opened with banks in India by non-resident Indians who can convert their dollar investments into rupee at the time of investment.

“We have requested that if the minimum investment period on FCNR and NRE deposits can be reduced to at least six months, it will help us bring some more dollars into the country,” said K.R. Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director, Punjab National Bank.

In the first two months of the current fiscal, FCNR(B) deposits in the banking system nudged up by just $207 million to $15.395 billion as at May-end 2013. FCNR deposits can be opened in US dollar, euro, British pound sterling, Canadian dollar. Australian dollar, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, New Zealand dollar, Danish krone, and Swedish krona.