Business News: Byju's Insolvency Petition, Paytm Warning, Budget 2024, ITR Guide, Sahaj Solar IPO, PMGSY Boost, RBI Guidelines

The NCLT managed an appeal by the BCCI for initiation of insolvency proceedings against the parent company of Byju's, Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, over a default of Rs 158 crore related to a sponsorship contract for the Indian cricket team. The interim resolution professional will be Pankaj Srivastava. The NCLT has also rejected the Byju's petition seeking to invoke the arbitration clause. This has come in the wake of another insolvency case settled by Byju's with Surfer Technologies, who had filed an application under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

The markets regulator, SEBI, has administered a warning to the fintech firm Paytm for transactions undertaken by the company without necessary approvals with Paytm Payments Bank during the financial year 2021–22. These two transactions are worth 3.24 billion rupees and 360 million rupees. SEBI has asked Paytm to bring the matter to the attention of its board and file a report on remedial steps within 10 days. Paytm has clarified that it has always been in compliance with the regulations, and so the warning will not impact its financials or operations. Earlier this year, the central bank had also restricted Paytm Payments Bank from accepting new deposits.

Tax on robots has been demanded for long by groups like Swadeshi Jagran Manch, but is unlikely to find a place in General Budget 2024, to be presented on July 23. "Though agreeing to the concerns related to AI and job losses, the government also feels that a robot tax can lead to increased avoidable panic," a source said.". Instead, the budget repeats AI, deeptech, and machine learning and assures Norsk, who is due to announce election results on May 23, that enough measures are being taken so that there are no job losses. Another IMF paper observed further that fiscal policies should support an equitable sharing in the gains flowing from AI.

Some of the key regimes under the income tax regime in India are an old regime and a new regime. In the old regime, there are deductions and exemption, whereas in the new regime, one gets reduced tax rates anyway by the exclusion of most of those deductions. The option to choose between both regimes shall be purely based on financial conditions under FY 2023-24 and AY 2024-25. The new tax regime would be the default; the option to opt out would be by filing Form 10-IEA in cases of persons having business income. One needs to understand both the regimes and make a comparison in regard to optimum tax planning. This option has overdraftedly been guided in the FAQs provided by the Income Tax Department.

The Sahaj Solar IPO allotment status is likely to be finalized on July 16, and the bank debit messages for investors will be sent this evening. Strong demand resulted in the subscription of its IPO 507.21 times. Investors can check the allotment status on the portal of Kfin Technologies. The listing of the Sahaj Solar shares is likely to take place on the NSE SME on July 19. The IPO price was fixed at Rs 171-180 per share. The company, founded in the year 2010,engegreg in renewable energy solutions, and has a manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad. The lead manager for the IPO is Kunvarji Finstock Pvt Ltd.

The government is also likely to extend this connectivity to the rural villages under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, with an emphasis on villages having 100 population or above in the hilly, desert, and other backward areas. This scheme, initiated in 2000, envisages restructuring of roads and increasing accessibility to attack poverty and resultant economic activity. Currently at its third phase with massive funding, the PMGSY was ending villages by putting them through the process of being connected with a market, school, and healthcare while promoting environmental sustainability through increased green cover along roads.

From July 1, a few leading banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Punjab National Bank have integrated their credit card bill payment system with Bharat Bill Payment Systems. This happened in line with the serving guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India. BBPS facilitates easy repayments through third-party applications. This mode has not been put in place by all the banks. Currently, 15 banks have already switched on BBPS for credit card payments, providing customers with an interoperable and safe platform for making bill payments through different channels across the country, managed by NPCI.

It was on July 15 that the Reserve Bank of India issued a master circular stipulating that banks, HFCs, and NBFCs should adhere to the principles of natural justice before classifying any person or entity as a fraudster. The step was taken in view of Supreme Court guidelines for banks to provide opportunity for personal hearing to borrowers before any classification of account as fraudulent. There is also a provision made in this circular for adequate EWS and red flagging procedures to detect the possibility of fraud and check it at the very beginning. It reiterated the need for robust internal audits and control frameworks in every regulated entity.