DA Announced For Feb.16 - May 16

No clear info with RBI on Re 1's different title: RTI reply

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) does not have a clear guideline regarding the printing of different titles on the currency note of Re 1 and that of other denominations, reply to an RTI query has revealed.

The Re 1 note bears the title 'Government of India', while other currency notes bear the title 'Guarantee by the Central Government'.

Activist Manoranjan Roy had filed an RTI query with the RBI recently seeking gazette copy or any other legal document with respect to the two different titles printed on Re 1 note and other notes.

In its reply, RBI's Central Public Information Officer Uma Shankar said, "The information sought is not available with us."

Notes of Re 1 bear the signature of Secretary, Ministry of Finance, while currency notes of all denominations carry signature of the Governor of RBI.

Roy said that the discrepancy in the title is ambiguous and, moreover, it seems like the RBI was doing its job "without clear-cut guidelines".

The activist also said the RBI Governor's signature on the currency notes, which are in both Hindi and English, should only be in one language. "These are definitely not part of security features on a currency note but definitely creates unnecessary ambiguity. It is time that the Finance Ministry take a note of it."

Banking governance will see reform: FM Arun Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday met representatives of banks, financial institutions and social sector groups as part of pre-budget consultative meetings with various stakeholders. He said focus would continue on governance reforms in banking and there was considerable improvement in opening of basic savings bank deposit accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

The finance ministry quoted Jaitley as saying that as part of governance reforms in public sector banks, Bank Board Bureau will replace the appointment board for appointment of whole time directors as well as non-executive chairmen to formulate appropriate growth and development strategies. Jaitley, in his meeting with social sector groups, said inclusive growth is high on the agenda and adequate measures can be expected to ensure social security for children, women and senior citizens.

Banks and FIs sought raising tax exemption limit to Rs 2.5 lakh, bringing down maturity period for taxfree term deposit to one year to promote domestic savings among other exemptions and putting affordable housing in the priority sector. HDFC Bank managing director Aditya Puri said certain tax-specific suggestions were made so as to encourage domestic savings. "Everybody was of consensus that public expenditure is necessary and if that is necessary then a balance will have to be done between fiscal deficit and expenditure, and may be it has to be delayed," he said.

Yes Bank managing director Rana Kapoor said the major point of the interaction was that overall savings in the country needs to be increased through a series of action to ensure domestic savings to create capital formation. "It was also suggested to bring down lock-in period on tax-free fixed deposits to one year from five years so that more depositors come into the system."

Social sector groups asked for doubling of allocation towards the health sector and higher rate of sin tax on tobacco products and alcohol in the budget. They sought allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) be increased by Rs 5,000 crore and spending of 10% of GDP on the education sector. Other suggestions included insurance to farmers as a major initiative to address the distress in the agriculture sector and for achieving higher agriculture growth, and adequate provisioning towards a comprehensive and universal crop insurance scheme.

RBI, banks seek higher tax sops under 80C

The Reserve Bank of India and financial sector bosses on Tuesday made a strong pitch for higher incentives for savings, including raising the tax benefit for investing money in fixed deposits and public provident fund (PPF) to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh currently.

Sources said RBI deputy governor Urjit Patel kicked off the customary pre-budget consultation with finance minister Arun Jaitley with a suggestion to "significantly" increase savings, which was followed by demands to raise the cap by bankers as well as insurance companies.

"We need to increase the savings rate in the economy and take it back to 35% of GDP. For that, enhancing section 80C (of Income Tax Act) to Rs 2.5-3 lakh will be helpful," Yes Bank MD & CEO Rana Kapoor said.

Bankers said the ceiling should be enhanced, especially at a time when real interest rates (net of inflation) had turned positive after several years.

Taking a cue from RBI's Patel, Life Insurance Corporation chairman SK Roy suggested that the government could impose sub-limits within the section 80C exemptions, said a source present in the meeting.

Under the current rules, the government allows deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for investment in various savings instruments such as fixed deposits with a tenure of five years or more, provident fund, PPF and life insurance schemes.

The suggestion came amid recommendations from some private sector bankers that the government should lower the quantum of tax-free bonds that are issued, if not completed do away with them. They argued that the bonds were being bought by high net-worth individuals such as film stars and were not benefiting the common man. The bonds issued by certain institutions compete with bank deposits.

Bankers also demanded tax should be deducted on interest of above Rs 50,000 as against the current Rs 10,000.

In addition, Kapoor said, there were suggestions on making the gold monetization scheme more attractive. A finance ministry statement said bankers also suggested that interest rate on small savings schemes such as PPF should be rationalized and linked to the yield on five-year government securities.

Banks as well as the RBI have been demanding the change to ensure that investors don't park funds in PPF and National Savings Scheme, which offer higher rates, and instead opt for fixed deposits with banks. Bankers say higher deposit rates don't allow them to lower lending rates, something that the government has been seeking.

Canara Bank board okays organisational restructuring

Aimed at improving efficiency, public sector Canara Bank’s board has approved organisational restructuring by moving to ‘4-tier system’ that will allow the lender to set up regional offices for a better connect with branches across the country.

“The board of the bank in its meeting held on January 12, 2016 permitted the bank to move to 4-Tier system i.e., Head Office, Circle Offices, Regional Offices and Branches from the existing system of 3-Tier i.e., Head office, Circle Offices and Branches in the next financial year in a phased manner,” Canara Bank said in a BSE filing today.

The bank said this is being done “to enhance the connect between the branches and controlling offices, strengthen the control mechanism and to improve business and profitability by improving the operational efficiency“.

Public sector banks are under pressure to bring down their non-performing assets and improve efficiency.

On Monday, another public sector lender Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) said it will rationalise the number of its regional offices by closing 10 such offices to improve efficiency.

Indian Overseas Bank said currently it has 59 regional offices and seven zonal offices, which provide support and guidance to branches, which are undertaking business activities and are required to monitor the performance of branches.

Royal Sundaram launches 'Lifeline' for Standard Chartered Bank customers

Royal Sundaram General Insurance has launched Lifeline, its flagship health insurance product to Standard Chartered Bank’s India customers through the bancassurance channel. 

Royal Sundaram will leverage its partnership to offer the highly customisable Lifeline suite of health insurance plans complemented with global benchmarks of customer service and exhaustive product knowledge to the corporate and retail customers of the bank.

M.S. Sreedhar, Managing Director, Royal Sundaram General Insurance Co. Limited said, “Lifeline’s suite of health insurance plans has witnessed heartening response from our customers ever since its launch. With the unique offerings and the customisation options, we have successfully established our brand proposition among well established and aspiring customer segments.” 

“We have a long standing relationship with Standard Chartered Bank, spanning almost 15 years largely due to synergies in our vision and commitment. We both believe in providing value to our customers by understanding their needs and risk profile and providing innovative, cost effective, customised solutions to ensure total customer satisfaction. I am sure our portfolio, now strengthened with the addition of Lifeline, will help us together take the partnership to the next level and script yet another winning story”, he added.

Lifeline is the company’s first plan serviced by doctors, offers the widest range of sum insured from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 1.5 crore. The cover has three sub-plans to choose from–Classic, Elite and Supreme with varying benefits and premiums. The tax-saving plan covers anyone from three-month-old babies to adults of all ages and has family floater benefits too.

To boost smart health practices, the product also covers cost of taking second opinions of as many as 11 critical illnesses.

Rs. 75000 cr disbursed under Mudra scheme till Dec: Mudra Bank CEO

Disbursements to the tune of Rs 75,000 crore has been made under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana till December last year; out of a total target of Rs 122,000 crore, Jiji Mammen, CEO, MUDRA Bank, said.

The Micro Units Developments Refinance Agency (MUDRA) scheme that looks at refinancing loans up to Rs 10 lakh was launched in April 2015.

According to Mammen, disbursal has been made to around 1.73 crore beneficiaries; of which, 50 per cent are new units; while the remaining half has been for expansion towards existing ones.

“Against a target of Rs 122,000 crore for this fiscal, we have disbursed Rs 75,000 crore in the first nine months of the year,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern India Microfinance Summit 2016.

Loans under the scheme have been bracketed in three categories: Shishu loans are up to Rs 50,000; Kishor loans are between Rs 50,001 and Rs 5 lakh; and Tarun loans of Rs 5-10 lakh. Sishu loans are for small businesses, while Kishor and Tarun ones are for larger ones.

Refinance

Till December, the agency has refinanced around Rs 1,500 crore from its corpus of Rs 20,000 crore.

Of this around Rs 800 crore has been for the banks, that include mostly public sector entities like Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank and the State Bank of Travancore, Mammen said. The remaining amount includes microfinance institutions.

To make the MUDRA scheme more attractive, the Centre has also cleared the setting up of a Rs 3,000 crore Credit Guarantee Fund for these loans. This will provide insurance against default on MUDRA loans to a maximum of 50 per cent.

IndusInd Bank reports 30% jump in net profit

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank Ltd on Tuesday said its net profit for the quarter ended 31 December 2015 jumped 30% on strong growth in its core operating income and other income.

Net profit for the quarter stood at Rs581.02 crore compared to Rs447.19 crore—an increase of 29.9%. A poll of 22 Bloomberg analysts had pegged net profit at Rs579.10 crore.

Net interest income, or the core income from lending businesses, rose 36.23% to Rs1,173.42 crore in the October to December quarter compared to Rs861.37 crore in the year-ago period. Other income, which includes earnings from fee-generating businesses, rose 29% to Rs839 crore from Rs649 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Asset quality at the bank remained largely steady although the bank increased provisions during the quarter.

Gross non performing assets (NPAs) at the end of the quarter were at 0.82% of total loans compared to 0.77% in the July-September quarter and 1.05% in the year-ago period.

Net NPAs stood at 0.33% compared to 0.31% in the quarter ended 30 September 2015 and 0.32% in the same period last year.

During the quarter the bank set aside Rs177 crore in the form of provisions compared to Rs158 crore in the previous quarter and Rs98 crore in the year-ago quarter. A number of banks have been setting aside additional provisions as a counter cyclical buffer.

Bank of Maharashtra to raise Rs 1000 cr via tier-II bonds

Public sector Bank of Maharashtra today said it will raise Rs 1,000 crore by issuing Basel-III compliant bonds on a private placement basis.

"Bank of Maharashtra has informed the BSE that the bank is proposing to raise Basel III compliant tier-II bonds amounting to Rs 1,000 crore by way of private/public placement," it said in a regulatory filing.

According to a Fitch Ratings report, Indian banks need USD 140 billion capital to ensure full compliance with the Basel-III norms by 2018-19. The Basel-III norms are aimed at bolstering banks resilience. Basel-III capital regulations are being implemented in India with effect from April 1, 2013 in a phased manner.

IDFC Bank buys 10 per cent stake in ASA International India for ₹ 8.5 crore

Newly launched private sector IDFC Bank has bought a 9.99 per cent stake in ASA International India Microfinance for about Rs 8.5 crore, the first investment by a lender in a microfinance institution.

ASA International India is a division of Dhaka-headquartered ASA, which operates in over 12 countries and plans to disburse $2.5 billion in loans among 6.6 million clients in 2015-16.

"We have taken a 10 per cent equity stake in the microfinance company called ASA that has footprint predominantly in the northeast," Rajiv Lall, managing director of IDFC Bank, told ET.

"ASA will give us access to their customers and that allows us to expand our lending operations. It also gives us the opportunity to open bank accounts for ASA's customers, so it's a win-win partnership. They need capital, we need customers - that's the essence of our transaction."

IDFC Bank will get a board seat in ASAI India and access to unbanked areas through its branches in the east and northeast. Ravi Shankar, head - Bharat Banking at IDFC Bank, will represent the bank on the ASAI India board.

ASAI India has 104 branches covering 22 districts in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It had over 1.3 lakh borrowers at the end of December, a total loan portfolio of over Rs 60 crore and 400 employees, including 241 loan officers.

IDFC Bank, which started operations on October 1 with shareholders' funds of Rs 13,300 crore, intends to continue growing inorganically.

"We will continue to look at these kinds of investments. There are some partnerships that do not require an investment, so we will look at that as well," Lall said.

"We are partnering with many MFIs where we haven't invested but from whom we are buying portfolios on a regular basis and whom we are supporting with bank lending." An Indian bank's investment in another financial entity cannot exceed 10 per cent. By keeping its investment in ASAI India at less than 10 per cent, IDFC Bank can fund the MFI's loans, which will qualify as priority sector lending for the bank.

The Reserve Bank of India has mandated that banks must provide at least 40 per cent of their total loans to farmers, small businessmen, students, exporters and small-ticket home loan buyers.

Lall said that would be a tough challenge to meet in the near term. "It's unrealistic. For our size of balance sheet, we need Rs 20,000 crore of PSL, so where is that going to come from?" asked Lall. "I think it's safe to say that we will not be able to achieve that target by just doing organic lending just by ourselves. We will be relying on partners to help generate a lot these assets for us. We will be lending to institutions that are PSL eligible, we will be buying portfolios from institutions that have PSL assets and we will be doing our own lending directly to PSL-eligible customers."

Bandhan Bank, which started operations on August 23, has a strong presence in the eastern and northeastern regions. It has more than 600 branches in 24 states, with 240 of them in West Bengal.

IndusInd Bank ties up with online payment solution firm PayU India

IndusInd Bank has tied up with online payment solution firm, PayU India. This will help provide customers the full suite of consumer banking products online as well as payment innovations. The partnership is aimed at bridging the gap between conventional banking and new online payment systems.

"While the Indian consumers have accepted online payment systems and seamless modes of online payment like mobile wallet, with open arms, the trust they have in the Indian banking system remains unmatched. With this partnership, we are bringing the cutting edge online payments technology and a bouquet of conventional banking services," said Shailaz Nag, COO and Co-founder, PayU India.

"Through this tie-up, the bank's experience will be leveraged to tap and redefine the rapidly growing digital financial space for both retail and business customers," said Sumant Kathpalia, Head, Consumer Banking, IndusInd Bank.

The partners will make announcements about the new products and services in the next 4-6 months. The collaboration will help create co-branded digital consumer banking products that will revolutionise the way digital banking and payments have shaped up and is expected to attract new customers across demographies.

UPDATES ON LEAVE RULES.........

Casual Leave
1. Eligible for 12 days in a year.
2. Shall be earned on a pro-rata basis during
the first year of service - at the rate of one
day for each completed month or part
thereof.
3. Can be taken 4 days at a time. The
holidays and weekly offs prefixing/
suffixing
or falling within the period of Casual Leave
will not be treated as part of casual leave.
(The ceiling of total period of absence of 6
days including holidays was now removed in
10thBPS).
4. CL cannot be combined with any other
kind of leave.
Un availed Casual Leave
Casual leave not availed in a calendar year is
convertible into sick leave with full
substantive pay except during the first year.
It can be availed only on the grounds of
sickness. There is no time limit for availing
UCL accumulated in a year by clerical staff , however for officers UCL can b availed within three years of its accumulation e.g. UCL of 2012 can b availed upto 31.12.2015. After that it lapses. UCL can be
availed without MC for 4 days at a time once
in a year or two days at a time twice in a
year. For one day on any number of
occasions, MC is not necessary.
Privilege Leave
1. Calculated at the rate of one day for every
eleven days of active service. While
calculating PL, all kinds of leave availed
except CL shall be excluded.
2. Can be availed only on completion of 11
months of service.
Generally 4 occasions in a calendar year,
though one occasion may comprise even a
single day.
(known as PL under domestic grounds).
3. However, the reasons for the request by an
employee for leave on more than 4 occasions
in ayear are adequate and genuine and it is
not administratively inconvenient, such
leave may be granted. PL should be applied
before 15 days of the proposed date of
commencement of leave.
4. PL on medical grounds can be granted for
more than 4 days at a time on production of
Medical Certificate which will not be counted
in the above 4 occasions.
5. The restriction with regard to the number
of times of availing PL, mentioned in Para 3
above, does not apply to members of
Executive Committee of a Registered Trade
Union. A member of Executive Committee
can avail PL for any number of times for
organizational work.(of course, within his
eligible leave)
6. PL can be accumulated up to 270 days and
on retirement the encashment is restricted
only to 240 days.
Sick Leave
1. An employee is entitled to sick leave on
half substantive pay, at the rate of one
month for each year of service subject to a
maximum of 18 months (540 days) during his
entire service, provided that where an
employee has put in a service of 24 years, he
shall be eligible to additional sick leave at
the rate of one month for each year of
service in excess of 24 years, subject to 3
months of additional sick leave. For availing
sick leave the employee has to submit MC.
2. An employee can convert the half-pay sick
leave in to full pay sick leave.
But twice the period of leave will be debited.
3. During the first year of service sick leave
will be granted on prorate basis.
4. Sick Leave can be availed for any number
of days.
5. Sick Leave can be availed without Medical
Certificate by an employee for a maximum
period of 10 days in a calendar year not
exceeding two days at a time after
exhausting the Casual Leave.
6. Sick Leave can be clubbed with PL, ML and
UCL.
Maternity Leave
1. Maternity leave which shall be on
substantive pay shall be granted to a female
employee for a period not exceeding 6
months on any one occasion and 12 months
during the entire period of her service.
2. Within the overall period of 12 months,
leave may also be granted in case of
miscarriage/abortion/MTP.
3. Within the overall period of 12 months,
leave may also be granted in case of
hysterectomy up to a maximum of 60 days.
4. ML is available even in the first year of
service. Probationers are also eligible. But
the probation period will be extended to that
extent.
5. Leave may also be granted once during
service to a childless female employee for
legally adopting a child who is below one
year of age, for a maximum period of six
months, subject to the following terms and
conditions:-
i) Leave will be granted for adoption of only
one child.
ii) The adoption of a child should be through
a proper legal process and the employee
should produce the adoption-deed to the
Bank for sanctioning such leave.
iii) The Permanent Part-time Employees are
also eligible for grant of leave for adoption
of a child.
iv) The Leave shall also be available to
biological mother in cases where the child is
born through surrogacy.
v) The leave shall be availed within overall
entitlement of 12 months
during the entire period of service.
Paternity Leave
With effect from the 1st June 2015, male
employees with less than two surviving
children shall be eligible for 15 days
Paternity Leave during his wife’s
confinement. This leave may be combined
with any other kind of leave except Casual
Leave. The leave may be availed upto 15 days
before or upto 6 months from
the date of delivery of the child.
Extra-ordinary Leave
1. An employee is eligible for extraordinary
leave on loss of pay when no other kind of
leave is due to the employee.
2. This leave is granted not exceeding 3
months on any one occasion with a
maximum of 24 months in the entire period
of service. Can be combined with or in
continuation of any kind of leave except CL.
3. Period of leave on LOP shall not count for
increments and increment date will be
postponed.
Special Casual Leave for Blood Donation
Employees who donate blood to a recognized
blood bank or Bank sponsored blood
donation drive are eligible for special CL for
one day, on the day of blood donation,
subject to the production of satisfactory
documentary proof.
Special Leave for Vasectomy / Sterilization
( 1). 6 days CL for male employees for
undergoing Sterilization.
(2). 14 days special CL for female employees
who undergo non puerperal Tubectomy
operation.
3. 1 day special CL for female employee, who
had IUD insertions.
4. 7 days CL to male employees whose wife
undergoes Non Puerperal Tubectomy
operation subject to the production of MC
from the doctor who performed the
operation to that effect that the presence of
the male employee is essential for the period
of leave to look after his wife during her
convalescence after operation. Leave to
commence on the day of operation.
5. An employee developing post-operative
complication after sterilization may be
granted CL to that extent of the period for
which he or she is hospitalized for such post
operative complication,
subject to production of necessary certificate
from the concerned hospital authorities.
6. An employee is not entitled to special CL
after maternity leave, if the sterilization
operation, recanalisation was done during
the maternity leave.
Special Sick Leave
With effect from the 01.06.2015 special Sick
Leave up to 30 days may be granted to an
employee once during his/her entire period
of service for donation of kidney/organ.
Sabbatical Leave (Govt.Scheme) for Women
Employees
Permanent female employees with minimum
of 5 years of Service are eligible. In
exceptional circumstances, employees with
less than 5 years of service can also apply.
Purpose of leave is
medical grounds, care of family members or
children, higher studies, visit spouse, etc.
Period of leave shall be minimum of 3
months at a time and shall not be taken
more than once in a year, maximum of 2
years during entire career. Total period of
leave including earlier Sabbatical scheme,
EOL and extra-ordinary leave under Bi-
partite shall not exceed 3 years

Raise income tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh: Central Trade Unions

New Delhi: Trade unions today asked the government to increase the income tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh and the minimum wage to Rs 18,000 besides raising the minimum monthly pension to Rs 3,000 for all.

They also sought a special package for victims of the recent Tamil Nadu floods.

These demands were raised under a 15-point charter submitted by 11 central trade unions to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during pre-Budget consultations held here. The Union Budget for the next financial year, 2016-17, is slated to be presented in Parliament in February end. It will take effect from April 1.

“We have demanded a minimum wage of Rs 18,000 per month which is higher than our earlier demand of Rs 15,000,” Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Zonal Organisation Secretary Pawan Kumar said after the meeting.

The Seventh Pay Commission has recommended Rs 18,000 as minimum monthly wage for central government employees and it should be the benchmark, he said.

All Indian Trade Union Congress Secretary D L Sachdev said: “We have also demanded Rs 3,000 minimum monthly pension for all and asked for a special package for flood ravaged Tamil Nadu to provide relief to workers as well as industry in the next Budget.”

Sachdev said that in view of price rise “we have also demanded from the government to increase the income tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh per annum”.

The union have also asked that fringe benefits like housing, medical and educational facilities and running allowances in railways should be exempted from Income Tax.

Unions also demanded that PSUs should be strengthened and expanded and the disinvestment of government shares in profit making PSUs should be stopped.

Besides, they said that the budgetary support should be provided for revival of potentially viable sick PSUs.

On the price rise, the charter said: “Take effective measures to arrest the spiralling price rise especially of food and essential items of daily use. Ban speculative forward trading in essential commodities, check on hoarding and universalise and strengthen Public Distribution System.”

Expressing concerns over steel and aluminium sectors, the unions said: “Relentless and increasing flow of import of industrial commodities including capital goods must be contained and regulated to prevent dumping and also to protect and promote domestic industries and prevent loss of employment.”

It also said that “FDI should not be allowed in crucial sectors like defence production, Railways, financial sector, retail trade and other strategic sectors. In other areas, terms and conditions for FDI should be made public.”