Shrimi Choudhary &Amp; Peerzada Abrar

Stories by Shrimi Choudhary &Amp; Peerzada Abrar

SoftBank-backed Ola raises $500-mn term loan

SoftBank-backed Ola raises $500-mn term loan

Rediff.com   17 Dec 2021

IPO-bound mobility platform Ola, said it has successfully raised $500 million via a Term Loan B (TLB) from marquee international institutional investors. This term loan has no impact on the valuation of Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola. The Bengaluru-based firm recently raised $139 million. This is part of a $1 billion funding round for which the company is in talks with investors, increasing its valuation to about $7.5 billion, according to the sources.

upGrad files Rs 3 cr trademark infringement suit against edtech firm Scaler

upGrad files Rs 3 cr trademark infringement suit against edtech firm Scaler

Rediff.com   2 Dec 2021

Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech unicorn upGrad, has filed a suit for trademark infringement against another EdTech company called Scaler. The suit has been filed in the Delhi high court for violation of intellectual property relating to upGrad's trademark. It has also sought damages of more than Rs 3 crore. upGrad accused Scaler of using its brand name 'upGrad' through Google Ads to appear on top of search results on Google Search Engine and in turn gaining illicit benefit.

Black Friday Sale receives good response, shoppers throng stores, websites

Black Friday Sale receives good response, shoppers throng stores, websites

Rediff.com   29 Nov 2021

Black Friday sales in India received a good response as brands dropped their prices making customers queue up outside stores where discounts were steeper. Discounts were offered both online and offline. Most of the international brands in India offered discounts under the Black Friday Sale banner. The Black Friday Sale started in the US on the Friday after Thanksgiving Thursday. The day typically marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season ahead of the festival.

Future Retail guilty of financial irregularities, says Amazon

Future Retail guilty of financial irregularities, says Amazon

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2021

US e-commerce giant Amazon has written to the independent directors of Future Retail Limited (FRL), including Gagan Singh, Ravindra Dhariwal and Jacob Mathew, and its audit committee, providing data and alleging that there have been significant financial irregularities to the prejudice of public shareholders, banks, creditors, and third-party suppliers. Amazon has said this warrants a thorough and independent examination of all relevant facts and related-party transactions, including of past financial years, by an independent agency. Separately, Amazon has written to Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Ajay Tyagi, seeking the withdrawal of the regulator's conditional approval granted to FRL related to the merger deal between the Future group and Reliance.

GST Revenues: Centre won't give states more

GST Revenues: Centre won't give states more

Rediff.com   15 Nov 2021

'We have already given Rs 1.59 trillion to states.' 'So, there is no question of giving them more.'

Big Tech invests $1.82 bn in Indian startups so far this year

Big Tech invests $1.82 bn in Indian startups so far this year

Rediff.com   8 Nov 2021

Their startup investments number 13 so far, compared to 17 deals in 2020.

Tax mop-up likely to top target by Rs 2.5 trillion, say experts

Tax mop-up likely to top target by Rs 2.5 trillion, say experts

Rediff.com   25 Oct 2021

The central government is likely to exceed the budgeted tax collection target of Rs 22.2 trillion for the current fiscal year, led by better indirect tax mop-up, compliance measures, and recovery in most sectors following the second wave of the Covid pandemic. Personal income and corporate tax collections (net of refunds) grew 74 per cent to Rs 5.70 trillion in the first half of the current financial year, driven mainly by advance tax and TDS payments. The target for the current fiscal year is Rs 11.08 trillion; higher taxes are paid usually towards the end of a fiscal year.

Ola's COO and CFO to exit firm amid its plans to go public

Ola's COO and CFO to exit firm amid its plans to go public

Rediff.com   20 Oct 2021

Mobility company Ola's chief financial officer Swayam Saurabh and chief operating officer Gaurav Porwal are leaving the company. These developments come at a time when the SoftBank-backed company's core ride-hailing unit is planning to go public and for which it raised $500 million from Warburg Pincus and Temasek in July this year. These investment firms had partnered with the company founder Bhavish Aggarwal for this round.

How Pandora Papers differs from Panama, Paradise leaks

How Pandora Papers differs from Panama, Paradise leaks

Rediff.com   14 Oct 2021

While Panama and Paradise Papers had majorly focused on foreign entities created by entities, corporates or individuals overseas, Pandora is about the new method adopted by wealthy elites by setting up multiple layered complex trust structures.

Bull Run: How Modi's Mantris Gained

Bull Run: How Modi's Mantris Gained

Rediff.com   8 Oct 2021

Amit Shah's net worth grew 32 per cent to Rs 37.91 crore, mainly due to 80 per cent appreciation in the market value of his securities.

Byju's is raising $300 mn, valuation may touch $18 bn

Byju's is raising $300 mn, valuation may touch $18 bn

Rediff.com   5 Oct 2021

Byju's is raising about Rs 2,200 crore ($300 million) as part of a larger round of new investment as the world's most valuable edtech company focuses on expanding its business in global markets and explores to do more acquisitions. According to industry sources, the new funding may value Bengaluru-based Byju's at $18 billion, up from a valuation of $16.5 billion in June this year. In June, Byju's became India's most valuable unicorn with a valuation of $16.5 billion, surpassing fintech company Paytm's $16 billion valuation.

E-com sales may cross $9-bn GMV this season

E-com sales may cross $9-bn GMV this season

Rediff.com   24 Sep 2021

E-commerce firms Amazon, Flipkart, and others are expected to witness blockbuster festival season sales of around $9 billion this year, surpassing pre-pandemic sales of $5 billion in 2019. The pandemic has accelerated the shift to e-commerce, with more consumers shopping online at a higher frequency than last year, observed analysts. This year's festival sales (gross merchandise value or GMV) are expected to grow 30 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $4.8 billion during the first week of the season and potentially clock over $9-billion GMV during the whole festival month, revealed consulting firm RedSeer's e-commerce festival season report.

FinMin to kick-start Budget 2022-23 exercise on October 12

FinMin to kick-start Budget 2022-23 exercise on October 12

Rediff.com   21 Sep 2021

The finance ministry will kick-start the exercise to prepare the Union Budget for financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from October 12, according to an official notification released on Monday. "The pre-Budget meetings as well as the meetings to discuss the revised estimates will start from October 12 and will continue till the second week of November," according to the Budget circular of the Department of Economic Affairs' Budget Division. The Union Budget is expected to be announced on February 1, as has been the practice of the past few years.

ITR filing extension: No relief to taxpayers on interest liability

ITR filing extension: No relief to taxpayers on interest liability

Rediff.com   20 Sep 2021

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended various tax returns filing deadlines till December 31 this year but it will continue to levy interest on delayed payments made after July 31, the original due date. Officials say tax payment has to be done through net banking, and the assessee doesn't need to use the e-filing portal, which has been facing glitches. So, taxpayers have to bear the interest payment liability of 1 per cent per month on the outstanding tax for those who filed a return after July 31.

'V-Shaped Growth for Economy'

'V-Shaped Growth for Economy'

Rediff.com   14 Sep 2021

'When you plot the growth, -- 7.5 per cent for Q2, 0.4 per cent for Q3, 1.6 per cent for Q4 and 20.1 per cent for Q1 now -- all you see is a 'V'.' 'You don't see any other alphabet in the shape there.'

Swiggy sets up development centre in Gurugram, home turf of rival Zomato

Swiggy sets up development centre in Gurugram, home turf of rival Zomato

Rediff.com   10 Sep 2021

Swiggy is rapidly scaling up its technology (tech) teams as the food delivery giant is witnessing strong recovery and growth over the past few months. The SoftBank-backed company is hiring across engineering, product, design, analytics, and data science functions in the next two quarters. Building this team, Swiggy is setting up a new development centre in Gurugram. Its rival Zomato, which had a stellar debut on the Indian stock exchanges in July, is also headquartered in Gurugram.

Ola Electric defers e-scooter sale to Sep 15 due to website glitch

Ola Electric defers e-scooter sale to Sep 15 due to website glitch

Rediff.com   10 Sep 2021

Ola Electric's technology team is working hard to iron out the technical kinks that marred the electric vehicle company's hyped online sale of its electric scooters (e-scooters) - the S1 and the S1 Pro - on Wednesday, said company sources. The SoftBank-backed firm is facing technical difficulties in making the website live for the purchase of its e-scooters. According to company sources, the website couldn't go live as there were integration issues.

Byju-Aakash's Plans for Test Learning

Byju-Aakash's Plans for Test Learning

Rediff.com   9 Sep 2021

'Hybrid learning is the future, and test prep is a big segment within the entire education space in India.'

Tax portal 2.0 to integrate with bourses to track trade transactions

Tax portal 2.0 to integrate with bourses to track trade transactions

Rediff.com   8 Sep 2021

The income-tax (I-T) department is working on integrating the new e-filing portal with stock exchanges to help tax authorities track trade transactions, including futures and options. The integrated system will look at discrepancies between the data disclosed by an assessee and match it with data fetched from stock exchanges, using artificial intelligence, said two officials in the know. This will help detect and red-flag such matters, particularly those related to non-filers of income-tax return (ITR).

60-65 small- to mid-sized cos on I-T radar for TDS mismatch

60-65 small- to mid-sized cos on I-T radar for TDS mismatch

Rediff.com   7 Sep 2021

Ahead of the second instalment of advance tax, the revenue department is scrutinising entities that have registered negative growth in their tax deducted at source (TDS) payments, even when they reported healthy advance tax payments. According to sources, taxmen have observed a mismatch in TDS payments from at least 60-65 small to mid-sized companies. Officials said it is unusual for TDS to not increase, given the improved turnover and profits - if higher advance tax payments are any indication.