The branch managers have come out of their glass cabins and the sellers' market has transformed into a buyers' market, but there is no end to the harassment of customers, asserts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Real estate developers are hoping that the slew of tax concessions announced in Union Budget 2025, set to take effect this financial year, will spur demand for affordable and mid-segment housing, even as the broader housing market shows signs of fatigue.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
Usually, banks will offer a lower credit limit to a first-time borrower and subsequently increase it as the borrower builds a repayment track record.
By staying informed and focusing on legitimate job openings, candidates can navigate the job market more effectively and safeguard their career aspirations.
India's flexible (flex) office segment, having breached pre-pandemic levels, is thriving as corporates, startups, multinational corporations, and global capability centres (GCCs) expand in India, seeking low-capital yet Grade A plug-and-play facilities. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the flex office segment continued to grow, with flex space leasing rising by 22 per cent to 2.2 million square feet (msf), according to Colliers.
The Department of Posts was one of the 11 entities to get the in-principle nod from the Reserve Bank of India in 2015 for setting up a payments bank.
Kotak Mahindra Bank's loan and deposit growth are likely to be affected after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked the private-sector lender not to take on board new customers through the bank's online and mobile banking channels and not to issue any new credit cards, according to analysts. The bank's share price fell 10.85 per cent on Thursday to close the day at Rs 1,643 on the BSE. The RBI's action came after market hours on Wednesday.
rediffGURU Yogendra Arora answers readers' personal income tax queries.
'Life does not change in such a way that everything becomes easy. Struggle and hustle is there for everyone. 'The difference is that people have started knowing me.'
'Some part could be used for consumption purposes, and the rest could be used to meet important financial goals.' 'The split can be 30:70 to 50:50, depending on one's situation.'
Even as concerns grow over the residential real estate market reaching its peak, the outlook for office real estate remains strong, with listed real estate investment trusts (Reits) standing to benefit from sustained demand in the segment.
For over a decade, HDFC Bank consistently outperformed industry growth rates in both deposits and advances, maintaining impeccable asset quality. Amid a landscape where other banks struggled with soaring non-performing assets (NPAs), HDFC Bank thrived, eventually surpassing ICICI Bank to become the largest private sector lender in India. Its net interest margin (NIM) remained stable in the range of 4.1-4.4 per cent.
A special court in Mumbai denied bail to businessman Sujit Patkar, an aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, in the alleged COVID treatment centres scam. The court found that Patkar played with the "life of people" by under-deployment of doctors and staff to generate proceeds of crime. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Patkar's firm, Lifeline Hospital Management, fraudulently obtained a contract for supplying medical staff at Dahisar and Worli Jumbo Covid facilities during the pandemic, resulting in the generation of proceeds of crime (PoC) amounting to Rs 32.44 crore. The court noted that there are ample statements of the witnesses to show that a list of more staff members was prepared than being deployed on the instructions of Patkar.
When investing in fixed-income products, balancing considerations like safety, liquidity, and income is essential.
But what do banks gain by opening their apps for all? The answer -- rival bank's customers under their fold.
The RBI also allowed banks to levy ATM charges beyond 5 transactions for the same bank's account holders.
rediffGURU Vivek Lala answers your income tax and personal finance queries.
In order to boost its deposit base, State Bank of India (SBI) is focusing on various segments, including JanDhan account holders, trusts, societies, and the segment below the affluent class but above the normal account holders. According to Ashwini Tewari , managing director, SBI, the bank is focusing on three broad segments. One is wealth banking, where the bank is focusing on individuals who perhaps do not qualify for private banking but are above regular accounts and require individual attention.
Investments made in liquid funds, which invest in short-term debt instruments, offer better returns for retail investors than parking money in savings bank account, says a study.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
These schemes are a good choice for investors contemplating a large investment in equity funds. Instead of investing all the money in one go, they can do so in a staggered manner by parking it in these schemes and then transferring it to equity mutual funds through a systematic transfer plan.
Allocation to bank deposits -- fixed deposits, savings account deposits, and current account deposits -- came down.
The net financial savings of the household sector has moderated to 5.1% of GDP in FY23 from 7.6 per cent in FY20, as households shifted their savings to physical assets amid low interest rates during the pandemic, according to State Bank of India's (SBI) Research report.
A special court on Friday dismissed the petitions of Anil Verma and Purnima, son-in-law and daughter of Satyam scam accused B Suryanarayana Raju, seeking direction to the CBI to defreeze their savings bank accounts and fixed deposits.
The current limit of Rs 24,000 per week has been raised to Rs 50,000 for savings accounts.
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
At a time when banks are finding it challenging to mobilise resources, State Bank of India (SBI)-the country's largest lender-has devised a three-pronged strategy to boost deposit accretion. First is an aspirational product that promises to make depositors lakhpatis by helping them grow their deposits to Rs 1 lakh through recurring deposit (RD) schemes.
After declining to a three-year low in FY24, the private sector investment is expected to fall further in the current financial year, India Ratings said in a research note.. The investments in the private sector are likely to plummet to below 11 per cent of the GDP in FY25, based on the trends from the latest national accounts data and company fillings, it noted.
'I wonder if they will keep it up after the elections.' 'I fear they'll start questioning eligibility -- income, age, bank accounts -- and eventually stop the scheme altogether.'
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's call for making lending rates affordable may not resonate anytime soon as banks still struggle with margin compression, and await clues from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on liquidity and rate action. Hinting that any lending rate cut was some time away, State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Vinay M Tonse said there was still some aggression in the market regarding deposit pricing.
Make deposits in your savings account before or on the 10th of every month.
Feature for feature, bank FDs are indeed better than debt funds today, mainly thanks to Ms Sitharaman, notes Debashis Basu.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (IPRU) disappointed the market even though some analysts said the Q3FY25 results were in line. Most analysts cut margin estimates. The insurer reported M9FY25 growth of 8.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in value of new business (VNB) premium to Rs 1,575 crore, while total annual premium equivalent (APE) grew 27.2 per cent to Rs 6,910 crore.
Your opportunity to earn higher interest by keeping more than Rs 1,00,000 in your savings bank account might soon be limited.
'If I close my housing loan, are there any investment avenues (the investment should provide liquidity) to save tax?'
The staff at post offices misappropriated Rs 95.62 crore of public money between November 2002 and September 2021, the Comptroller and Auditor General has said. The money may seem small but it is what common citizen invested in post office savings, the oldest and the largest banking system in the country. The system serves the investment needs of urban and rural clients through schemes such as savings bank, recurring deposits, time deposits, national savings certificates, kisan vikas patras, public provident fund, monthly income account scheme, sukanya samriddhi accounts and senior citizens savings scheme.
A new cyber fraud known as 'pig butchering scam' or 'investment scam' has emerged, targeting unemployed youths, housewives, students, and needy people who are made to lose large sums of money daily, according to the latest annual report of the Union home ministry.
ICICI Bank, the largest private sector lender in the country, is offering an 'instant account number' if you apply for a savings deposit account through its website.
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