PwCcaughton a 'silly' point
Even Pricewaterhouse Coopers Ltd, with worldwide reputation, can make
a 'silly' computing error in filing income tax returns, and it got
relief only from the Supreme Court last week after eight years of
litigation. In its statement, the firm claimed adeduction towards
payment of gratuity for some of its employees. Though it was accepted
by the assessing officer, after a few years, the error was discovered
and the assessment was reopened. The firm immediately filed a revised
return and paid the tax due. However, the authorities initiated
penalty proceedings demanding penalty at the rate of 300 per cent. The
tribunal and its appellate body rejected the pleas of the firm,
stating the high-calibre organisation was not expected to make a
'silly' mistake. On appeal, the Calcutta high court maintained that
the concealment of income need not be wilful as in a criminal
prosecution, as this was a civil matter. Allowing the appeal, the
Supreme Court stated that the "expertise of the firm has little or
nothing to do with the inadvertent error". It was a bona fide human
error, "which we are all prone to make", and the imposition of penalty
was not justified, the judgment observed.
Intereston delayed payment
The Supreme Court held last week that when an arbitration contract
clearly bars payment of interest in a situation of nonpayment or
delayed payment, the arbitrator cannot award interest for the period
of arbitration. However, the arbitrator or the court can grant
interest from the date of award till the date of payment. The court
stated so while modifying the order of the Uttarakhand high court in
the dispute between Tehri Hydro Development Corporation and Jai
Prakash Associates. In this case, there was a clear term in the
agreement for building certain works in the hydro project that the
contractor would not claim interest for delay in payment, either
interim or final or on any amount lying in deposit by way of
guarantee. However, the arbitrator granted interest. This part of the
award was set aside in this appeal.
Protection of depositor's interest
The Pondicherry Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial
Establishments Act, 2004 is similar to the Acts in Tamil Nadu and
Maharashtra and since the latter two have been held to be valid in
earlier judgments of the Supreme Court, the Pondicherry legislation is
also valid. The court declared this while dismissing the appeal of New
Horizon Sugar Mills which had availed of credit facilities from Indian
Bank. The mills defaulted, starting a series of litigation involving
several parties. The court rejected the challenge to the validity of
the Pondicherry Act and observed that it was meant to protect the
interests of depositors who stand to lose their investments on account
of the diversion of the funds collected by PNL Nidhi Ltd for the
benefit of the sugar mill, which is owned by two persons who are
directors of PNL Nidhi. The court noted that the latter company had
changed its name five times and added that this is a case "where funds
have been collected from the gullible public to invest in projects
other than those indicated by the front company."
Exparte consumercourt orderquashed
The Supreme Court last week set aside the ruling of the National
Consumer Commission in a dispute between Kanpur Development Authority
and a successful bidder of a plot because the order against it was
passed without hearing him. He had moved the UP Consumer Commission
alleging deficiency in service and it had issued notice to the
authority, but the notice was not served on it. The commission,
however, passed an ex parte order against the authority. It appealed
to the national commission without success. But the Supreme Court
found that no notice was served and therefore asked the national
commission to find out whether the notice was properly served.
Copyrightviolatorto pay penalty
The Delhi high court last week imposed punitive damages of Rs 5 lakh
on an event manager of Bangalore and restrained it from organizing any
event involving live performance in respect of lyrics, musical score
the copyright which are held by the Indian Performing Right Society.
The society consists of authors, composers and publishers of various
literary and musical works and claims to be administering public
performance/ communication to public rights in terms of the Copyright
Act. It was alleged that Ad Venture Communication India played musical
works of Indian and foreign artistes without its permission.
Justifying the current trend of imposing punitive damages, the court
said: "A soft view while awarding damages would be wholly misplaced
and uncalled for. If the damages awarded against such persons are
token in nature and do not pinch the infringer that would only
encourage the infringer to repeat such acts in future at the cost of
some other copyright holder."
MJ ANTONY
Money goes mobile
NEHAPANDEYDEORAS
Bangalore-based network security professional Ashish Rao started using
mobile banking earlier this year, and he has largely transacted
through the ICICI Bank's mobile banking application (app) since then.
"Be it sending money to parents or to any of my other account(s), I
largely transfer funds through the mobile. I also shop on e-commerce
sites and book movie tickets through the mobile, as it can be done
anywhere, anytime," explains Dilip.
He has spread the word among colleagues and friends. Three of eight
have followed suit. "Most of us have smartphones and these are
supposed to be used for all the facilities they give. Importantly,
these applications work very well on smartphones, then why not
transact through them," says Dilip's colleague Aniket Dave.
Banking experts advocate mobile banking. Take the example of the
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), set up by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI), which launched the inter-bank mobile payment
service (IMPS) for all merchants. This means you can pay any kind of
bill through your mobile, including that of the neighbourhood kirana
store. With this, NPCI hopes to increase mobile-based transactions
from 0.2 million to one million by 2013.
According to an RBI report released on August 23, 13 million
individuals used mobile banking services in 2011-12. The report said
49 banks saw 25.6 million mobile banking transactions, worth ~1,820
crore, in the same period. The transactions had grown 200 per cent in
volume and 175 per cent in value.
All banks have cashed in on this and have a mobile banking app in
place. You can transfer up to ~50,000 a day using the app. Smaller
payments of up to ~5,000 can use the bank's SMS facility.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has an app that
helps you book train tickets via the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering
and Tourism Corporation) portal. You need to get the one-time password
(OTP) before you log into the portal through mobile banking. Given
that booking last minute through IRCTC gets difficult, this platform
can be useful. You will be charged ~5 (over and above the tickets and
IRCTC charges) if the ticket cost is up to ~5,000, and ~10 if over
~5,000. You can also book airline/bus/movie tickets, shop online and
send/receive money to/in SBI accounts or others.
Features offered by other public sector banks like Bank of India and
Union Bank of India are similar. There are extra benefits, like
mini-statement generation, mobile recharge and utility bill payment.
The latter is a feature that can be of great help as people don't find
time to go to the state electricity board's office and stand in a
queue for hours to pay the bill.
The countrys largest private bank, ICICI Bank, has gone a step ahead,
allowing you to open new savings bank account, fixed deposit,
recurring deposit and demat account through the mobile banking app.
Also, you can apply for home, car loan and view loan account details.
More, you can recharge the direct-to-home (DTH) connection along with
the mobiles.
HDFC Bank's mobile banking facility through ngpay helps search for
shows and seats too. For travel tickets, the bank has a tie-up with
IRCTC, Kingfisher Airline, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, redBus, Ticketvala and
Savaari. The bank's HDFC Bank Visa Debit Card on mChek is a card
issued on your mobile through which you can pay for mobile, utility
bills, book movie and air tickets, and shop. You need not carry a
debit card or share card details with merchants or portals.
Mobile banking solutions company, Monitise, a joint venture of
LSE-listed Movida and Visa, signed an agreement with HDFC Bank this
year to introduce a mobile payment service. It will go live next
month. It is also aimed at basic phone users.
Standard Chartered Bank's mobile banking app, Breeze Mobile, helps you
by issuing reminders on payments, future income and expenses. It also
relieves you from the headache of remembering a new username and
password, as those are the same as that of online banking.
To register for mobile banking, GPRSactivated phones need to download
the app to the handset from the browser application of the bank, and
key in the username and password to start transacting. It can also be
downloaded through the PC, and transferred to the mobile via bluetooth
or data cable. Those using low-end handsets can initiate transactions
through text messages. Those using Android phones need to download
apps from Google Play (or the android market). iPhone users can
download those from the Apple App Store.
Banks have been quick to embrace the smartphone era. Their apps for
financial transactions promise ease, convenience and freedom from
rigmarole
State Bank of India State Bank FreedoM Book train tickets via IRCTC
portal Book airline/bus/movie tickets and shop online Send and receive
money SMART FINANCES
Bank of India StarConnect Mobile Banking Services
Access all your accounts with the bank Get banking transaction
details, view account balance, make third-party fund transfers,
utility bill payments, and book tickets
ICICI Bank iMobile Transfer funds, make balance enquiry, see last five
transactions, open fixed deposit / recurring deposit accounts, make
cheque book request, stop cheque request, cheque status enquiry, view
credit card balance, demat account and loan account details Recharge
prepaid mobile and DTH, book movie, bus and air tickets, shop, make
bill payment Locate bank branch or ATM, apply for new account, home
and car loans
HDFC Bank ngpay Fund transfer facility Book movie tickets, search
shows and select seats
Plan your journey via IRCTC, Kingfisher Airlines, Make-My-Trip, Yatra,
redBus, Ticketvala and Savaari. Send gifts, flowers, books via Ferns N
Petals, Gifts 360, Landmark, Archies, FutureBazaar and Asian Sky Shop
Axis Bank Axis Mobile Balance enquiry Mini statement Service requests
Cheque book request Fund transfer to Axis Bank and other accounts Bill
payments
Bank of Baroda Baroda M-Connect Balance enquiry, Mini statements Fund
transfers within the bank and outside Mobile recharge Airline and
movie ticket booking
Standard Chartered Bank Breeze Mobile Settle payments Shopping,
recharging mobile phone, booking movie and airline tickets Transfer
money Reminders help you track regular payments and future income and
expenses Username and password for Breeze is same as that of online
banking
Union Bank of India UMobile Book air and movie tickets Balance
enquiry, generate mini statements
Fund transfers both within the bank and to other banks Mobile recharge
Bank Mobile Banking App Features
An RBI report said 49 banks saw25.6 mn mobile banking transactions,
worth ~1,820 crore, in 2011-12
--
.
-
CS A RENGARAJAN,, B.Com ,FCS, LLB, PGDBM
Company Secretary, Chennai
email csarengarajan@gmail.com
http://www.csarengarajan.blogspot.com
http://companysecretarytalent.blogspot.com/
http://companysecretarybenevolentfund.blogspot.com/
http://csvacancies.blogspot.com/
mobile 093810 11200
CS Benevolent Fund is a collective effort towards extending the much
needed financial support to the community of Company Secretaries in
times of distress Let us lend support and join for noble cause.
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