Reply within four weeks on WhatsApp payment service: SC to Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and messaging service provider WhatsApp after a plea sought direction to restrain the app from proceeding with its payments systems unless it fully complies with RBI's provisions.

A bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Indu Malhotra sought response from WhatsApp, Law and Justice Ministry, Finance Ministry and Information Technology Ministry within four weeks.

Advocate Virag Gupta, appearing for the petitioner Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change, contended that the messaging platform does not comply with provision of mandating a Grievance Officer and other laws of India including Know Your Customer (KYC) norms laid down by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The plea said that while companies like Facebook and Google have appointed Grievance Officers for users in India, WhatsApp had not.

ICICI Bank drags Punj Lloyd to NCLT, State Bank of India objects

ICICI Bank has filed a case against Punj Lloyd, the international engineering procurement and construction company, in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), New Delhi, for insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. The division bench headed by Justice M M Kumar has issued a notice to Punj Lloyd, saying the lender has moved the tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). ICICI Bank has filed the case against Punj Lloyd to recover dues of Rs 8.52 billion. However, the petition seeking initiation of insolvency proceeding against the corporate debtor was opposed by State Bank of India (SBI).

RBI monetary policy: Four charts show markets are preparing for a rate hike

The interest-rate cycle in India is turning. The central bank may be set to tighten policy next week to keep inflation in check and stem the declines in the rupee if the rate-market moves are any indication.

The Reserve Bank of India hasn’t tinkered with rates since August, and even cut inflation projections last month, raising expectations that borrowing costs would remain on hold. But a surprising hawkish tilt revealed in its April policy minutes and the recent spike in oil has boosted speculation the authority may lift rates at its June 6 meeting.

“Front-end bonds are fully pricing in a 25-basis point hike in June,” said Suyash Choudhary, head of fixed income at IDFC Asset Management Co. in Mumbai. “Even accounting for some higher supply absorption premium, one can say that a 75-basis point increase seems to be comfortably discounted over the next year.”

From hope to happiness: Analysts find SBI's FY2020 plan credible

State Bank of India (SBI) seems to be taking the Rs 77.18-billion loss in the March 2018 quarter in its stride with the bank’s chairman Rajnish Kumar expecting better days ahead.

“The year gone by was one of despair, the current year is one of hope and 2019-20 will be the year of happiness,” Kumar said.

He expects gains from higher credit growth, robust financial profile and control on costs.

Despite SBI’s poor numbers, the stock market has taken an optimistic view on the outlook as is evident from the stock gaining 7.4 per cent in two trading sessions.

Analysts say FY2020 targets as set by the country’s largest lender are credible and very much within reach. The clean-up of balance sheet involving recognition and provisioning for bad loans is almost through. While retail credit, which was 57 per cent of total loans in FY18, is growing at a healthy pace. Its leadership position in corporate lending, for which demand is picking up, will also stand in good stead.

RBI cancels bids for Rs 11,000-cr bonds

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday refused to accept bids for Rs 11,000 crore worth of bonds in the final auction of this calendar year.

In all, four bonds for Rs 15,000 crore were on offer. Bids for two bonds--one maturing in 2022 (Rs 3,000 crore on offer) and another in 2031 (Rs 8,000 crore)—were rejected by the central bank. It sold the remaining two bonds worth Rs 2,000 crore each and maturing in 2033 and 2046.

The signal from the RBI has been that high yields would not be acceptable to the central bank or the government. Also,  and that the yield movement have been over the top in a short span.

The decision not to accept bids for two bonds addressed some of the market concerns related to liquidity after the government announcement  on Thursday that it was going for additional borrowing of Rs 50,000 crore. 

"The partial cancellation of the auction means that the government has a comfortable cash position and is unwilling to pay high coupons," said Piyush Wadhwa, head of trading at IDFC Bank. Following the auction results, bond yields fell 15 basis points to 7.25 per cent in the intraday, before climbing back to close at 7.33 per cent, from its previous close at 7.40 per cent.

This is a marginal relief for banks as they will now have to provide lower nominal losses on their bond portfolio. Nevertheless, considering the 10-year bond yield was at 6.648 per cent at the start of the quarter, the yield movement is still at 68 basis points in the quarter. The bank treasury, therefore, will have to take a hit on their books.

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Govt to bear MDR charges on digital transactions of up to Rs 2,000

In an effort to boost digital payments in India, the government has decided to bear the merchant discount rate (MDR) charges for transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM-UPI or Aadhaar Pay for two years. The decision will be effective from January 1, when the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) revised guidelines on the MDR come into force. The MDR is the rate charged to a merchant by a bank for providing debit and credit card services. It is expressed as a percentage of the transaction amount.

The outgo on account of reimbursement for MDR charges is estimated to be Rs 2,512 crore over the next two years. The amount to be reimbursed to banks could be Rs 1,050 crore in FY 2018-19 and Rs 1,462 crore in FY 2019-20 for transactions of value less than Rs 2,000, said the Union government in a press statement.

The government has set up a committee to look into the industry cost structure of such transactions, which will form the basis to determine the levels of reimbursement.

“The compensation to banks will help cover the costs incurred in managing card payment operations. This should give push to volumes in digital banking space and enable to beef up merchant acquisition infrastructure,” said P K Gupta, managing director of retail and digital banking, State Bank of India.
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Sebi evolving according to the economy's needs: Arun Jaitley

Latest News - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday credited the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for being a professional organisation which has been evolving as per the needs of the economy and the markets.

Jaitley's comments on the evolution of the Sebi's role came after he addressed its board at a post-Budget meet.

"Sebi is a professional organisation with considerable experience," Jaitley said adding that it has been evolving according to the needs of the economy and the markets.

According to the minister, during the meet, discussions on various issues relating to the securities markets were held.

The meeting was attended by (Read More)