Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) bill, gives a ‘safe passage’ to all those SEZ units that haven’t been able to fulfil their export commitments The government is planning to make a few amendments to the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act 2005 in the winter session of Parliament, with a view to giving more operational flexibility to units in these tax-free enclaves, especially when it comes to sales in the domestic tariff area (DTA). It had intended to overhaul the SEZ regime by bringing in the Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs Bill (DESH) announced in the budget for 2022-23. Since DESH is facing delays, the government is keen to address some of the concerns under the extant regime...
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Category: Regulatory environment
NPAs: Setting the record straight
The Modi Government has made unstinted efforts to make the defaulters pay up and also ensured that no new NPAs are created As per the information shared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in reply to the RTI question, scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) had written off non-performing assets (NPAs) – an acronym for loans that have gone bad – worth over Rs 10,57,000 crore in the last five years. This amount is often cited by the opposition in particular, the grand old party (GOP) to lambast Modi – government for having given what they term as ‘loan waiver’ to big industrialists and businessmen. Has Modi granted favours to the big-wigs? To address this, we need to answer two fundamental...
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E-commerce policy conundrum
The government must provide a level playing field to all. It should legitimize 100 per cent FDI in retail, online and offline, big and small Referring to the national e-commerce policy, the Secretary Department for the Promotion of Industry and internal trade (DPIIT) in the Ministry of Commerce Rajesh Kumar Singh has said it will “put in place a streamlined regulatory framework for the ease of doing business, adoption of modern technologies and the integration of supply chains”. It will seek to create “a conducive environment for the overall development of the sector and boost exports”. According to the foreign trade policy, the Union government is aiming at an e-commerce export potential of $200 billion to $300 billion annually by...
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Let FDI in retail come from the front door
Allowing FDI in retail would be in the best interest of consumers as this will enable all retailers to compete with one another on equal terms Following complaints from consumers and traders against “widespread cheating and unfair trade practices” by e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart, the Union government intends to amend consumer protection rules to bar these firms from (i) selling their private labels on their platforms; (ii) make them liable for frauds committed by a seller; (iii) prohibit them from having their logistics chain for supply-chain management. The marketplace is a platform where vendors sell their products to consumers even as its owner merely acts as a facilitator by providing services such as booking orders, raising invoices,...
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Under IBC, protecting minority shareholders
The soul of IBC mechanism lies in timely detection of stress in a firm and selling it as a ‘going concern’ The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed a framework to protect the interests of public equity shareholders in case of listed companies undergoing insolvency proceedings under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). In 2016, the Modi Government enacted the IBC. This legislation overrides all other subsisting laws and gives a strong handle to the banks for resolving non-performing assets (NPAs) of lenders. In 2017, it amended the Banking Regulation Act (BRA), giving RBI powers to force banks to act if they don’t on their own. On February 12, 2018,...
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Forced scrappage of a fit vehicle is arbitrary
For vehicle scrappage, incentive and not force should be the way, as people with limited income may suffer In an unprecedented order delivered in 2014, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had prohibited petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10-year from plying in the National Capital Region (NCR). The order was upheld by the Supreme Court (SC) in its pronouncement on October 29, 2018. As for compliance, eight years after the NGT order and four years after SC validation, nearly 4,000,000 such vehicles continue to ply on the roads of the national capital. These include 500,000 diesel-run vehicles and 3,500,000 petrol-run. The transport authorities have reportedly swung into action impounding around 60 such vehicles every day...
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Strengthening IBC framework, really?
Faced with ballooning NPAs, the Modi government enacted the IBC in 2016 While putting on hold its plans to implement the so-called “fresh-start process” for indebted poor people under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the government wants to first focus on bolstering the IBC architecture to yield quick resolution of toxic assets. The reference here is to the delay in completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) as well as the low amount realised by creditors from their non-performing assets (NPAs) — a fancy nomenclature for bad loans. Let us capture a few basics. Faced with ballooning NPAs, the Modi government enacted the IBC in 2016. This legislation overrides all other subsisting laws and gives a strong handle...
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Bolstering IBC architecture – a joke
After withdrawal of RBI powers to navigate NPA accounts for resolution under IBC, and removing banks’ compulsion to go to NCLT, the IBC process is dysfunctional While, putting on hold its plans to implement the so-called “fresh-start process” for indebted poor people under the (IBC) Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (it provides for debt waiver up to Rs 35,000 to the poor who don’t own houses, earn up to Rs 60,000 a year and have assets up to Rs 20,000 each),the Government wants to first focus on bolstering the IBC architecture to yield quick resolution of toxic assets while preventing unscrupulous elements from gaming the system. The reference here is to the delay in completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process...
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Bolstering IBC architecture – a joke
While, putting on hold its plans to implement the so-called “fresh-start process” for indebted poor people under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) (it provides for debt waiver up to Rs 35,000 to the poor who don’t own houses, earn up to Rs 60,000 a year and have assets up to Rs 20,000 each), the government wants to first focus on bolstering the IBC architecture to yield quick resolution of toxic assets while preventing unscrupulous elements from gaming the system. The reference here is to the delay in completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) as well as low amount realized by the creditors from their non-performing assets (NPAs) – a fancy nomenclature for loans that are difficult to...
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Corporate governance — Sebi’s volte face
A reform measure cannot be held hostage to the whims and fancies of those who decide not to comply with the reform order Based on the recommendations of Uday Kotak committee on corporate governance (2018), the stock markets watchdog, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked listed companies to separate the positions of Chairperson and Managing Director (MD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The requirement was mandatory. The companies were required to implement the order by April 2020. However, based on representations received from the industry, an additional two years was given for compliance. In April last year, SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi goaded them to ensure that the April 2022 deadline is not missed. Now, that even this deadline is barely...
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