Salient features of Bill to Introduce GST in India
Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley Intoduces the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Lok Sabha;
New Article 246a Proposed to Confer Simultaneous Power to Union and State Legislatures to Legislate on GST ;
Centre To Compensate States for Loss of Revenue Arising on Account of Implementation of the GST for a period up to Five Years
The Union Cabinet approved on 17th December,2014 the proposal for introduction of a Bill in the Parliament for amending the Constitution of India to facilitate the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country. The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley introduced the said Bill in the Lok Sabha today.
The proposed amendments in the Constitution will confer powers both to the Parliament and State legislatures to make laws for levying GST on the supply of goods and services in the same transaction.
GST will simplify and harmonise the indirect tax regime in the country. GST will broaden the tax base, and result in better tax compliance due to a robust IT infrastructure. Due to the seamless transfer of input tax credit from one state to another in the chain of value addition, there is an in-built mechanism in the design of GST that would incentivize tax compliance by traders. It is thus, expected that introduction of GST will foster a common and seamless Indian market and contribute significantly to the growth of the economy.
Following are the salient features of this Bill:
• A new Article 246A is proposed which will confer simultaneous power to Union and State legislatures to legislate on GST.
• A new Article 279A is proposed for the creation of a Goods & Services Tax Council which will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States. This Council would function under the Chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister and will have Ministers in charge of Finance/Taxation or Minister nominated by each of the States & UTs with Legislatures, as members. The Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on important issues like tax rates, exemptions, threshold limits, dispute resolution modalities etc.
• It is proposed to do away with the concept of 'declared goods of special importance' under the Constitution.
• Centre will compensate States for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of the GST for a period up to five years. A provision in this regard has been made in the Amendment Bill (The compensation will be on a tapering basis, i.e., 100% for first three years, 75% in the fourth year and 50% in the fifth year).
The proposed GST has been designed keeping in mind the federal structure enshrined in the Constitution and will have the following important features:
• Central taxes like Central Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duties, Service Tax, Additional Customs Duty (CVD) and Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD), etc. will be subsumed in GST.
• At the State level, taxes like VAT/Sales Tax, Central Sales Tax, Entertainment Tax, Octroi and Entry Tax, Purchase Tax and Luxury Tax, etc. would be subsumed in GST.
• All goods and services, except alcoholic liquor for human consumption, will be brought under the purview of GST. Petroleum and petroleum products have also been Constitutionally brought under GST. However, it has also been provided that petroleum and petroleum products shall not be subject to the levy of GST till notified at a future date on the recommendation of the GST Council. The present taxes levied by the States and the Centre on petroleum and petroleum products, i.e., Sales Tax/VAT, CST and Excise duty only, will continue to be levied in the interim period.
• Both Centre and States will simultaneously levy GST across the value chain. Centre would levy and collect Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), and States would levy and collect the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) on all transactions within a State.
• The Centre would levy and collect the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on all inter-State supply of goods and services. There will be seamless flow of input tax credit from one State to another. Proceeds of IGST will be apportioned among the States.
• GST is a destination-based tax. All SGST on the final product will ordinarily accrue to the consuming State.
• GST rates will be uniform across the country. However, to give some fiscal autonomy to the States and Centre, there will a provision of a narrow tax band over and above the floor rates of CGST and SGST.
• It is proposed to levy a non-vatable additional tax of not more than 1% on supply of goods in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. This tax will be for a period not exceeding 2 years, or further such period as recommended by the GST Council. This additional tax on supply of goods shall be assigned to the States from where such supplies originate.
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CA Sumit Grover commented on the bill "whether immovable property can be classified as services? It shall enlarge the scope for unnecessary invitation to litigation right from the beginning. Hence, these points should be taken for re-consideration as well to plug the ambiguities from the very first step."
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Amount invested in Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) doubles in 100 months at the present rates. The certificates can be purchased by an adult for himself or on behalf of a minor or to a minor. It can also be purchased jointly by two adults.
Main features of Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP )
Amount invested in Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) doubles in 100 months at the present rates.
The certificates can be purchased by an adult for himself or on behalf of a minor or to a minor.
It can also be purchased jointly by two adults.
A certificate may be transferred from one person to another with consent in writing to an officer of the Post Office or Bank. Under the scheme the transferee has to be eligible to purchase the certificate.
The certificate may be prematurely encashed any time after two years and a half from the date of purchase, in the event of death of holder or any holder in case of joint holder, on order of court of Law and forfeiture by a pledge.
The Government has no proposal to separately tax benefit on KVP. However, income on KVP would be taxable as per existing provisions.
Investor will have to undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) modalities at the time of application.
In the case of transfer of KVP from one customer to another, a request has to be made in writing to an officer of the Post Office or Bank and the transferee has to be eligible to purchase KVP certification in the first instance.
Kisan Vikas Patra (KYP) has been reintroduced and is available in Post Offices. In future, KVP will be available in banks which are/will be authorized for handling small savings schemes.
The Electricity Act, 2003 was enacted to amalgamate and modernize the earlier Electricity Laws, namely, the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998. The Act was reviewed and amended twice, in the year 2004 and 2007, to give effect to certain changes considered necessary.
Salient features of Electricity Amendment Bill, 2014
Electricity Amendment Bill, 2014 Introduced in Lok Sabha; Changes Aimed at Promoting Competition, Efficiency in Operations and Improvement in Quality of Supply of Electricity
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was introduced today in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State (I/c) for Power, Coal and New& Renewable Energy Shri. Piyush Goyal. The amendments will usher in much needed further reforms in the power sector. It will also promote competition, efficiency in operations and improvement in quality of supply of electricity in the country resulting in capacity addition and ultimate benefit to the consumers.
Salient features of the proposed amendments
The Electricity Act, 2003 was enacted to amalgamate and modernize the earlier Electricity Laws, namely, the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998. The Act was reviewed and amended twice, in the year 2004 and 2007, to give effect to certain changes considered necessary.
Based on the experience gained over the years, it was felt to review the provisions further to bring efficiency and competition in the distribution sector, strengthening grid security and safety, promotion of renewable energy, rationalization of tariff and strengthening and performance oversight of Regulatory Commissions etc.
Certain legislative changes were suggested by the Working Group on power for the formulation of 12th Five Year Plan which were further examined under a Committee constituted under Chairperson, CEA. Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the proposed amendments were uploaded on the website of Ministry of Power in the month of October, 2013. Thereafter, consultations were held with various stakeholders including those from Central Ministries, State Governments, Generation, Transmission, Distribution utilities, Regulatory Commissions, Private Developers, traders, industry associations, consumer groups, power exchanges and individuals etc., in meetings taken in the Ministry.
Based on exhaustive consultations, certain amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003 have been proposed broadly covering the following areas:-
A. Enhancing Grid safety and security: In order to strengthen and enhance Grid safety and security, specific measures regarding maintenance of spinning reserves along with strong and effective deterrence in the form of enhanced penalties for violations of the directions given by the State and Regional Load Despatch Centres etc., have been envisaged.
B. Separation of Carriage & Content in the Distribution sector: To achieve the objectives of efficiency and for giving choice to consumers through competition in different segments of electricity market, concept of multiple supply licensees is proposed by segregating the carriage from content in the distribution sector and determination of tariff based on market principles, while continuing with the carriage (distribution network) as a regulated activity. To protect the interest of consumers, the tariff for retail sale of electricity is proposed to be capped through the Regulator and one of the supply licensees is proposed to be a Government controlled company. Further, the existing distribution licensees are proposed to continue till the expiry of their term as specified in their licence.
C. Promotion of Renewal Energy: In order to accelerate the development of Renewable Energy sources, a number of measures including the provision for a separate National Renewable Energy Policy, development of renewable energy industry, Renewable Generation Obligation on coal and lignite based thermal power plants, specific exemptions to Renewal Energy sources from open access surcharge, separate penal provisions for non-compliance of Renewal Purchase Obligation etc., have been envisaged under the Renewable Generation Obligation for coal and lignite based thermal power plants.
D. Tariff Rationalization: To rationalize the tariff structure on sound financial principles for the viability of the distribution sector and recovery of revenue requirement of licensees without any gap, the provisions of Tariff Policy are proposed to be made mandatory for the determination of tariff. Further, the bill envisages timely filing of tariff petitions by utilities, disposal of the same by the Appropriate Commission within a specified time period and powers to Appropriate Commissions for initiating suo-motu proceedings for determination of tariff in case the Utility/Generating Companies do not file their petitions in time.
E. Miscellaneous : Suitable amendments are also proposed for improving the accountability and transparency in the working of Appropriate Commissions without affecting their functional autonomy; bringing clarity in regard to appointments, functions and powers of the Chief Electrical Inspector/ Electrical Inspectors and levying of fees for electrical inspections; exemption to developer of SEZs, Railways and Metro Rail for obtaining distribution licence; collection and realization of any dues along with the electricity dues, etc
Govt. has no role to play in determining pass percentage of CA exams
Conducting of CA Exams
All activities connected with conduct of examinations by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India including setting of papers, valuation, pass percentage, declaration of results etc. are undertaken by the Institutes themselves. Accordingly, Central Government has no role to play in determining pass percentage etc. of these exams.
This was stated by Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Corporate Affairs in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. (Source- PIB)
CBDT introduces AADHAR Enabled Biometric Attendance System in Offices under it
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct taxes
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct taxes
Room No.I155, North Block, New Delhi
Dated: 16th December, 2014
Dated: 16th December, 2014
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject: Introduction of AADHAR Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) reg.
The undersign is directed to state that the Government has decided ro introduce Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) and has made employee's registration mandatory. The system enables an employee with an Aadhar number to register his/her attendance (arrival/departure) in the office through Biometric authentication. The Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) is !he nodal authority to liaise with all the Central Ministries/ Departments to ensure effective implementation of the system. The objective of the scheme and the steps required to be taken for its implementation have been given in details in the Secretary, DeitY's letter dated 4.08.2014 (Copy enclosed). To begin with the system was introduced in all Central Government Offices located in Delhi and pursuant thereof instructions were issued to Pr. CCIT(CCA) Delhi and all attached Directorates vide OM of even number dated 09.9.2014 and 15.10.2014 to appoint nodal officers in respect of the offices under their respective offices.
In this connection it is further stated that Department of Personnel &Training have since issued instructions for installation of AEBAS in all offices of the Central Government, including attached /subordinate offices all over India. The system will be installed in the offices located in Delhi/ New Delhi by 31″ December, 2014..In other places this may be installed by 26″' January, 2015. A copy of the DOPT's OM No. 11013/9/2014-Estt.(A-III) dated 21.11.2014 issued in this regard is enclosed.
Accordingly all Pr.CCsIT (CCA) /lPr.DGsIT (CCA)/ CCsIT/DGsIT are required to take immediate necessary steps for installation of the Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance System in the offices under their administrative control within the timeline prescribed in the DOPT's OM stated above and a report forwarded to !his office for perusal of Chairperson CBDT by February 15, 2015.
This issues with the approval Chairperson, CBDT
(Anil Uniyal)
Dir (Hqrs) CBDT
Tel: 23093134
Dir (Hqrs) CBDT
Tel: 23093134
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No:11013/9/2014- Estt (A-III)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance, & Pensions
Department of Personnel& Training
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance, & Pensions
Department of Personnel& Training
New Delhi, dated 21st November 2014
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Sub: Introduction of AADHAR Enabled Bio-metric Attendance System
It has been decided to use an AADHAR enabled Bio-metric Attendance System (AEBAS) in all offices of the Central. Government, including attached/ sub-ordinate Offices, in India. The system will be Installed in the offices located in Delhi/New Delhi by 31 st December 2014. In other places this may be installed by 26 th January 2015.
2. The equipment Will be procured by the Ministries/Departments as per specifications of DeitY on DGS&D Rate Contract from authorized vendors. The expenditure will be met by the Ministries/ Departments concerned under their O.E. The manual system of .attendance may be phased out accordingly
3 . The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) will provide the technical guidance for installing the system. The equipment already procured by DeitY have a built In AMC of three years. The Ministries/Departments may ensure that the equipment being procured by them have similar provision
4. Biometric attendance system is only an enabling platform. There is no change in the instructions relating to office hours, late attendance etc. which will continue to apply. AI per extant instructions, (contained In DoPT O.M. No: 28034/8/75-Estt-A dated 04-07-1975; No:28034/10/75 Estt-A dated 27-08-1975; No: 28034/3/82 -Estt-A dated 05-03-1982) half-a-day's Casual Leave should be debited for each day of late attendance, but late attendance upto an hour, on not more than two occasion in a month, and for justifiable reasons may be condoned by the competent authority. In addition to debiting Casual leave (or Earned Leave, when no CL is available). Disciplinary action may also be taken against government servants who are habitually late. Early leaving is also to be treated in the same manner as late coming.
5. These orders come into force with immediate effect
6. All Ministries/Departments are requested to bring this to the notice of all concerned.
(J. A. Vaidyanathan)
Director (Establishment)
Tel: 23093179
Director (Establishment)
Tel: 23093179
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Government of India
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
Department of Electronics & Information Technology (Deity)
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
Department of Electronics & Information Technology (Deity)
Date: 04-08-2014
Dear Sir,
Subject: Biometric Attendance System-Preparatory steps to be taken by Departments
It has been decided to introduce Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) in the Central Government offices located at New Delhi, to begin with. This would include the attached/ subordinate offices in your Ministry/ Department based in Delhi. The Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) has been assigned the nodal responsibility to liaise with all the Central Ministries/ Departments and ensure its effective implementation, in a time-bound manner.
2. The proposed System would enable an employee, with an Aadhaar Number, to register his/her attendance {arrival/departure) in the office through biometric authentication. For the aforesaid purpose, necessary arrangements are being put in place by DeitY (through NIC), including the installation of the Authentication Tablets/ Desktop Authentication Devices in each of the offices of Central Ministries/ Departments. Further, a web-based application software system will enable online recording of attendance. The dash-board relating to real-time attendance and related statistics, can be viewed by everyone including the Controlling Officer concerned, with adequate safeguards ..
3. While the implementation of the system will require a number of steps, following preparatory steps are required to be taken by each Department:
(i) Nominate an officer not below the level of Joint Secretary in your Ministry/ Department-as a Nodal Officer, for coordination with NIC, UIDAI and other agencies, to ensure timely implementation of the proposed system. The name and contact details of the above Nodal Officer be immediately mailed to Ms. Shefali S. Dash, Dy Director General, NIC (email: dash@nic.in). Nodal Officers of NIC posted in each department will provide necessary technical support to the department and administrative support will be provided by the Nodal Officer in each Department.
(ii) Identify the officers/ officials, who have not enrolled for Aadhaar Number so far. UIDAI is being requested to organise Aadhaar enrolment camps at various locations in Central Government Offices so that the employees who do not have Aadhaar numbers can enroll themselves. The details in this regard (employee name and serial/mobile no.) be mailed to Shri Yashwant Kumar ADG, UIDAI {email: yas its@hotmail.com) with cc to Ms. Shefali S. Dash, Dy. Director General, NIC email: dash@nic.in). UIDAI will then convey the locations of enrolf1!ent stations to all the departments. They are also being requested to generate the Aadhaar numbers within a week of enrolment date. The Nodal Officer of your Department may be required to arrange a suitable space in your office premises for organizing the aforesaid special enrolment camps.
(iii) Initially, each Department would be required to register itself with the Attendance System by. following the steps given· in Annexure-!. The representative of NIC posted in your Department would .assist the Nodal Officer of your Department in completing the required formalities
(iv) Consequent to registration as mentioned at sub-para (iii) above, every employee will need to register him/her in the attendance system. The process of registration is fairly simple and involves providing certain basic information. The nodal officers may ensure that the registration process is started immediately, by arranging special counters in adequate numbers. A brief note in regard to registration and attendance recording is attached as Annexure-11, which explains as to how to go about registration of employees. The nodal officers will also make arrangements for verification of registration done so as to ensure that (i) the data is correct and (ii) only authorized persons are able to register for attendance. To begin with (i) regular employees (ii) Consultants and (iii) contract employees may be included in the system. Later, this can be expanded to cover outsourced personnel and other categories also. The representative of NIC posted in your Department would assist the Nodal Officer in completing the required formalities.
4. Necessary _briefing about the system has been given to NIC representatives of all departments. Meetings, as and when required would be convened with the Nodal Officers in due course with a view to sensitize them about other operational arrangements, necessary for early implementation of the System.
5. I may add that the aforesaid attendance system has been in operation in the State of Jharkhand since 1st January 2014 and is being recently tried on Pilot Basis in the Department of Electronics & IT, Ministry of Communications & IT, New Delhi. You may like to visit the dashboard of the aforesaid system at attendance.jharkhandqov.in and deity.qov.in/attendance respectively for familiarization.
6. I request you to please take the above preparatory steps by 10th August, 2014 latest, keeping in view the urgency in the matter
Yours sincerely
(R S Sharma)
(R S Sharma)
Steps for Organization On-Boarding on Biometric Attendance System (BAS)
1. Download the PDF form from the website (attendance.gov.in)
1. Download the PDF form from the website (attendance.gov.in)
2. The downloaded form should be filled up accordingly and signed by the head of the department
3. The physical form should now be scanned and saved in jpg format of file size less than 200 kb
4. After Step 1-4, the user has to visit the website attendance.gov.in and click- Create On boarding Request, on which a web form is loaded in the screen
5. The web form should be duly filled and the -scanned image file of the physical form should be uploaded along the web form
6. After successful creation of request a One Time Password (OTP) is sent to the Nodal Officer's mobile, which he has to enter to verify the data being submitted by the user. In case the OTP verification fails the user registration is cancelled and a new request has to be submitted again
7. On submission of the web form the, the account creation request form is sent to the reviewer, who will review the data submitted by the user.
8. After the reviewer approves the form, the application will send out a welcome mail and the user website is also created.
Pre-requisites for Organization on boarding
(a) Nomination of nodal officer
(b) Contact details of nodal officer
(c) Department information
How To Use The Wall Mounted Bio-Metric Device
1. Marking of attendance on the device is based on the Aadhaar number allotted to an individual.
1. Marking of attendance on the device is based on the Aadhaar number allotted to an individual.
2. For marking attendance, first of all, register yourself on the attendance registration form available on internet at URL ( http://attendance.gov.in ).
3. Please touch the panel and fingerprint device very gently. The system recognizes even a very soft I light touch. Please do not put pressure on the touch panel or the finger print device
4. For marking attendance, just type your 06 digit ID number very lightly and then place your finger on the fingerprint reader, very softly. The moment your fingerprint appears on the screen, you can remove your finger. If the word "authenticate" appears on the screen, touch the word "authenticate" to approve. Once your attendance has been accepted, it gives an OK message. Touch the word "OK" to complete the process. If the number has not been typed correctly, select reset for typing the correct number and put your finger print again.
5. In case, the device. does not recognize one of your fingers, please try another finger. Though, this happens in a few cases, whenever it happens, one can try all the fingers, one by one, till one of the fingers is accepted.
6. Please note that any of the ten fingers can be used for marking attendance
How To Use The Desktop Bio-Metric Device
1. Marking of attendance on the device is based.on the Aadhaar number allotted to an individual.
2. For marking attendance, first of all, register yourself on the attendance registration form available on internet at URL ( http://attendance.gov.in .
3. Please double click DesktopAttendanceCiient.exe shortcut available on desktop in order the run the application.
4. For marking attendance, just type your 06 digit ID number and then place your finger on the fingerprint reader, very softly. The moment your fingerprint appears on the screen, you can remove your finger. If the word "authenticate" appears on the screen, touch the word "authenticate" to approve Once your attendance has been accepted, it gives an OK message. Touch the word "OK" to complete the process. If the number has not been typed correctly, select reset for typing the correct number and put your fingerprint again
5. In case, the device does not recognize one of your fingers, please try another finger. Though this happens in a few cases, whenever it happens, one can try all the fingers, one by one, till one of the fingers is accepted.
6. Please note that any of the ten fingers can be used for marking attendance.
MEF- Revised Bank Branch Auditors Panel for the year 2014-15
Please find placed below revised draft final Bank Branch Auditors' Panel for the year 2014-15.
To view your category, please click on the relevant interval:.
- MEF00001-05000
- MEF05001-10000
- MEF10001-15000
- MEF15001-20000
- MEF20001-25000
- MEF25001-30000
- MEF30001-35000
- MEF35001-40000
- MEF40001-45000
- MEF45001-50000
- MEF50001-55000
- MEF55001-60000
- MEF60001 onwards
Regards,
Shyam Lal Agarwal
Chairman, Professional Development Committee
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