A Singapore court on Thursday granted a four-month moratorium to Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, a period which the embattled firm will use to restructure its business without worrying about legal proceedings. A moratorium offers applicant temporary relief from legal proceedings. WazirX, India's biggest crypto exchange, suffered a major hacking attack in July this year losing close to $230 million.
Telecom major Jio will start the beta trial of 5G services in four cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi from October 5 with a select set of customers, the company said on Tuesday. The company will send invites to customers under 'Jio True 5G Welcome Offer' to try its 5G services and the subscribers will get Unlimited 5G data with up to 1 gigabit per second speed. "Post the successful demonstration of its True-5G services at the India Mobile Congress 2022, Jio is announcing the Beta trial of its True-5G services on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra, for Jio users in four cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Varanasi," Jio said in the statement.
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.
Air India will be commencing its scheduled operations -- two daily flights from the national capital -- to Dhaka on Wednesday.
Mortgage finance remains a structural growth opportunity in India with a policy focus on affordable housing, housing shortages, low mortgage penetration, and rising incomes as drivers. Affordable Housing Finance Companies (AHFCs) serve the mass market, low-income segments, which is the least-serviced category, and to operate in this segment, the mortgage provider needs good assessment skills. AHFCs and HFCs have also been increasing exposure in other mortgage segments (loan against property, developer loans among others).
India's telecom subscriber base grew to over 1.17 billion in October with Bharti Airtel maintaining its leadership in mobile subscriber addition that accounts for over 98 per cent of total connections in the country, according to the monthly report released by sector regulator Trai on Wednesday. This is the second consecutive month when Airtel added highest number of subscribers. In September, it had regained the leadership position in subscriber addition after a gap of four years. The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company added 3.67 million new customers in October, taking its total wireless customer base to 330.28 million in October 2020, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) report said.
India's financial sector is dominated by large government-owned and private-sector banks.
'Domestic investors are opening up to the idea of high-growth Internet companies as a pool of value creation.' 'They like the execution that they see with Zepto, and for us, that is the most important factor.'
With Donald Trump all set to become US president, Indian exporters may face high customs duties for goods like automobiles, textiles and pharmaceuticals if the new US administration decides to pursue the 'America First' agenda, opined trade experts. Experts also said that Trump could also tighten H-1B visa rules, impacting costs and growth for Indian IT firms. Over 80 per cent of India's IT export earnings come from the US, making it vulnerable to changes in visa policies.
Shares of brokerages and market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) witnessed heavy selling pressure following the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) pivot to a uniform fee structure, which analysts fear could dent revenues. Discount brokerages, which currently benefit from a spread between client charges and exchange fees, are expected to be most affected. Shares of Angel One, the third-largest brokerage by active clients, fell 8.7 per cent. Groww and Zerodha, the largest brokerages, are not publicly listed.
'So, we would work with our members to ensure that we as an SRO create some sort of due diligence for fintechs.'
State-level reports every quarter for service quality and artificial intelligence-based solutions may be officially mandated as part of a set of more stringent, updated quality-of-service (QoS) norms by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) soon. The new norms will also factor in user experience for 5G networks, officials informed Business Standard. In February, Trai asked telecommunication (telecom) service providers (TSPs) to submit updates on measures taken to reduce call drops and lags and raise the quality of connection.
The framework governing customer protection should consist of fairness and transparency of rule.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai's) latest push to review its existing spam regulations and expand the definition of "commercial communications" is driven by an urgent need to tighten controls on autodialers or robocallers, and bulk messaging, according to official sources. This move, they said, comes in response to a surge in complaints against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs), which soared to 750,000 in just the first half of 2024, underscoring the necessity for a comprehensive overhaul of the government's anti-spam measures. Last week, Trai released a consultation paper aimed at revisiting the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018), the government's legal framework against spam.
Gold, a safe-haven bet, is likely to continue its record-smashing journey in the New Year, rising to Rs 85,000 per 10 grams and even Rs 90,000 level in domestic markets if geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainties continue.
The ATMs are fully up now and customers can withdraw up to Rs 50,000 from Yes Bank as well as from other banks' ATMs.
India's internet economy is estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2030, primarily due to e-commerce, which is expected to be worth $325 billion and rank third globally, according to industry experts. Last year marked a crucial turning point for India's e-commerce sector, with notable changes in consumer trends, technology, and regulations. InGovern Research Services, a leading corporate governance advisory firm, hosted a virtual roundtable to deliberate on the notable developments in India's e-commerce sector in 2023, with a particular focus on the essential role of customer trust in fueling its ongoing expansion.
Gold imports more than doubled in August to a record high of $10.06 billion, mainly on account of a drastic cut in customs duty and ongoing festive demand, according to the Commerce Ministry data. Gold imports stood at $4.93 billion in August 2023. On record high imports, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the tariff rates on gold have been reduced drastically so that smuggling and other activities can come down.
The impact of Trump's announcement of increasing import tariffs will have negligible benefit for India not because of companies trying to shift from China to other countries or their supply chains being affected due to their Chinese operations but because of our faulty policies, explains Mudit Jain.
Get a new QR code from an alternative provider. PhonePe, Google Pay, Pine Labs, etc are some of the other service providers.
'Developers are into profit-making. And there's not too much money in the affordable segment.' 'So, they don't do affordable housing.'
Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, is under formal investigation related to illicit activities on the messaging app.
In a relief for foreign firms giving loans to Indian subsidiaries, tax authorities have said goods and services tax (GST) will not be imposed on them, subject to some caveats. Additional fees, commissions, or related payments - over and above the amount charged as interest - on these loans will attract GST at 18 per cent, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said.
'A credit line on UPI is going to make banks think about credit fundamentally as they digitise the credit process entirely.'
The Reserve Bank of India has on Wednesday lifted the ban on new customer acquisition by American Express which was imposed with effect from May 2021 due to non-compliance with local data storage norms. "In view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by American Express Banking Corp. with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular dated April 6, 2018, on Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed, vide order dated April 23, 2021, on onboarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect," RBI said. Similar bans were imposed on Diners Club International and Mastercard previously.
The payments industry is at a crossroads with the banking regulator on two pressing issues, neither of which seems headed towards an amicable solution. Depending upon which side accommodates the other, customers in India will have to choose between convenience and ironclad safety. In the end, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which regulates both banks and all payments services providers, will prevail. But the question is: will it do so by bending a little or by sticking to its firm stand? The two issues - one concerning payment facilitators storing customers' card details and the other about auto-renewal of payments - appear similar but aren't.
Another trend: A preference for coloured diamonds among brides, who are pairing them with their groom's birthstone. So, along with yellow or white diamonds, they are choosing pink, green, blue sapphires, emeralds or red rubies.
Violators will have to pay a Rs 2,000 fine for the first offence and Rs 5,000 if they defy this order for the second time, Ujjain Mayor Mukesh Tatwal said on Saturday.
Jobs requiring AI skills carry a significant wage premium, with some roles offering up to a 25 per cent increase in wages, notes Manoj Nagpal, vice president, professional services, OpenText, an information management company.
Launched in March, it triggers re-verification of suspected fraudulent numbers. Failing re-verification, the number will be disconnected.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday released draft guidelines for streamlining the onboarding and monitoring of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) operators to counter frauds perpetuated through the ecosystem. Banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are required to comply with these directions within three months from the date of issue of the guidelines.
'You will see him frequently asking customers -- especially retail -- about service experience, pain points, areas of improvement and suggestions.'
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked life insurance companies not to advertise unit-linked plans as investment products in a recent circular.
Global engineering and product development digital services firm Tata Technologies on Monday said it has been selected by European aerospace major Airbus as a strategic supplier. The company will become an engineering, manufacturing engineering and services strategic supplier (EMES3), Tata Technologies said in a statement. "This is an outcome of an extensive seven month long multi-phased procurement assessment process that covered all Airbus divisions, subsidiaries, and affiliates across engineering, manufacturing engineering, and customer services engineering functions," it added.
The airline had initiated a probe after the passenger posted on X that there was a blade-like metal object in the meal.
The government on Tuesday announced setting up of hubs to promote exports through e-commerce medium in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode and initially 10-15 hubs will be established. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that these hubs, under a seamless regulatory and logistic framework, will facilitate trade and export-related services under one roof. "To enable MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and traditional artisans to sell their products in international markets, e-commerce export hubs will be set up in PPP mode," she said.
Tucked away at a lane in Arehalli Guddadahalli, a small village in Bengaluru Rural district is a nondescript factory of LaundryMate, one of India's first organised technology-led online laundry services firms. The company has built the country's largest laundry facility, which is spread across 53,000 square feet - the size of a football field. Inside the hangar-like building, one can hear the whooshing and humming sound of big hi-tech washing machines being operated by the newly-recruited staff of LaundryMate.
The share of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in monthly new business premium (NBP) in the life insurance sector declined to 58.50 per cent in September 2023 from 68.25 per cent in September 2022 -- a drop of 975 basis points -- owing to shortcomings in the product and distribution side of business. However, the market share saw a marginal uptick from the 57.37 per cent recorded in August this year. According to the monthly business data released for September 2023 by the Life Insurance Council, the NBP of LIC up to September 2023 stood at Rs 92,462.62 crore as compared to about Rs 1.25 trillion in the same period a year ago.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday stayed the recent guidelines prohibiting hotels and restaurants from levying service charge automatically on food bills. Justice Yashwant Varma, while dealing with petitions by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India challenging the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)'s July 4 guidelines, said the issue requires consideration and directed the authorities to file their reply. "The matter requires consideration. Consequently, until the next date of listing the directions as contained in para 7 of the impugned guideline of July 4, 2022 shall remain stayed," the court ordered.