Archives for 2017

E-BIZ Portal:

This is for your information that, RBI services offered through eBiz portal will be migrating to a new platform from 27th February ‘2017. RBI services includes Reporting of Advanced Foreign Remittance, Reporting of FC-GPR & Reporting of FC-TRS. Due to migration activities, RBI services will not be available on eBiz portal from 24th Feb ’17 to 26th Feb ’17. Post migration, you can continue to apply for these services through eBiz portal. You will be redirected to new platform from the service page. Further, On the new platform, pdf forms have been replaced with web forms. You have the provision to save in draft while filling the forms. In order to apply digital signature, you will be required to register your digital signature on eBiz and install setup file for eMSigner. The details are present in the attached help document.

RBI

RBI has issued a Master direction on Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) of transferring personal remittances from abroad to beneficiaries in India. Only inward personal remittances into India such as remittances towards family maintenance and remittances favouring foreign tourists visiting India are permissible. No outward remittance from India is permissible under MTSS. The upper limit for movement of cash in INR would be Rs.10,00,000/- and in Foreign Currency equivalent of USD 1,00,000 except the transactions where the imported foreign currency is being transported to the offices/ branch of the Authorised Persons who are Indian Agents under the Money Transfer Service Scheme (AP).

SEBI:

SEBI has increased the Prudential limits in sector exposure for Housing Finance Companies (HFCs). Presently, the guidelines for sectoral exposure in debt oriented mutual fund schemes put a limit of 25% at the sector level and an additional exposure not exceeding 10% (over and above the limit of 25%) in financial services sector only to HFCs. In light of the role of HFCs especially in affordable housing and to further the Government’s goal under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY), it has now been decided to increase additional exposure limits provided for HFCs in financial services sector from 10% to 15%.

MCA

MCA has revised the versions of eForm – SPICe Form MoA (Form for filing eMemorandum of Association), SPICe Form AoA (Form for filing eArticles of Association) and SH-11 (Return in respect of buy-back of securities) are likely to be revised on MCA21 portal. The revised forms will be available on the portal on the portal of MCA w.e.f 26th February, 2017.. All the stakeholders are advised to check the latest version of the form before filing.

CBEC – Service Tax:

CBEC has issued a circular clarifying the Applicability of service tax on the services by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from a place outside India to the customs station in India w.r.t. goods intended for transhipment to any country outside India. It has been clarified that with respect to goods imported into a customs station in India intended for transhipment to any country outside India, the destination of goods is not a place in taxable territory in India but a country other than India if the same is mentioned in the import manifest or the import report as the case may be and the goods are transhipped in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and rules made there under. Hence, with respect to such goods, services by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from a place outside India to the customs station in India are not taxable in India as the destination of such goods is a country other than India.

RBI

RBI has issued a Notification regarding Reimbursement of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). The Government of India (GoI) has decided to absorb the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges in respect of debit card transactions while making payments to THE Government. In order to operationalise the same, RBI will reimburse banks the MDR on debit cards used for payment of tax and non-tax dues to the Government of India with effect from January 1, 2017. Agency banks are advised to forward their claim for reimbursement of MDR along with statutory auditor’s certificate, as in the case of agency commission claims, to CAS Nagpur on a quarterly basis. The claims may be signed by the Officer-in-Charge of the Government Banking Division of the bank. He should also certify that MDR charges for transaction amounts upto Rs. 1.00 lakh have not been collected from the payer. The first such claim may be made by April 30, 2017 for the quarter ending March 31, 2017.

The Payment of Wages Act, 1936

Ministry of Law and Justice has notified the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 which shall come into force on the 28th day of December, 2016. Through this notification, Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, shall be substituted, by "All wages shall be paid in current coin or currency notes or by cheque or by crediting the wages in the bank account of the employee: Provided that the appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify the industrial or other establishment, the employer of which shall pay to every person employed in such industrial or other establishment, the wages only by cheque or by crediting the wages in his bank account."

SEBI

SEBI in order to provide more choices of investors to Indian entities issuing Rupee denominated bonds abroad, it has been decided to also permit Multilateral and Regional Financial Institutions where India is a member country, to invest in Rupee denominated bonds. The changes/revised instructions in respect of issuance of Rupee denominated bonds will be applicable from the date of issuance of this circular.

MCA:

MCA has revised the versions of eForm – SPICe form (INC-32) (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically). In the new improved version of SPICe e-form, the Certificate of Incorporation will be generated only after approval of Company Incorporation by MCA and also allotment of PAN & TAN by Income Tax Deptt. Till the integration with the CBDT system stabilizes, few Stakeholders may experience occasional delay in receiving the Certificate of Incorporation (COI). All newly incorporated companies using SPICE e-forms are now receiving their PAN in the COI itself and TAN separately by e-mail. The revised forms will be available on the portal on the portal of MCA w.e.f 19th February, 2017. Stakeholders are advised to download the latest version before filing. Form- wise date of last version change is available at on the website of MCA.

RBI

RBI has increased the quantum of gold loans from Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.2.00 lakh granted by the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). Provided, the period of the loan shall not exceed 12 months from the date of sanction, Interest will be charged to the account at monthly rests but will become due for payment along with principal only at the end of 12 months from the date of sanction and RRBs should maintain a Loan to Value (LTV) ratio of 75% on the outstanding amount of loan including the interest on an ongoing basis, failing which the loan will be treated as a Non Performing Asset (NPA).

News from NIRC of ICSI

Registration open for NIRC’s Workshop on "NBFC" CS Vinod Kothari, on Saturday, the 18th February, 2017 (Registration starts at 9.00 AM) from 10.00 am onwards at Auditorium, ICSI-NIRC Building, 4, Prasad Nagar Institutional Area, New Delhi. Fee : Rs. 400/- upto 17-02-2017 for all participants including Corporate Members of NIRC; Online Payment / Registration can be made through PAYTM; Free For Members of YUVA Corporate Membership Scheme of NIRC; Program Credit Hours: 04.

MCA:

MCA has revised the versions of eForms – Form AOC-4 (Form for filing financial statement and other documents with the Registrar), Form AOC-4 XBRL (Form for filing XBRL document in respect of financial statement and other documents with the Registrar), Form GNL-2 (Form for submission of documents with the Registrar). The revised forms will be available on the portal on the portal of MCA w.e.f 17th February, 2017. Stakeholders are advised to download the latest version before filing. Form- wise date of last version change is available at on the website of MCA.

Ministry of Finance:

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 and in supersession of the earlier notifications of the Government of India, the Central Government hereby establish the Debts Recovery Tribunal at Dehradun with effect from the 16th day of February, 2017 and hereby specifies the area of jurisdiction of the Debts Recovery Tribunals at Allahabad, Lucknow and Dehradun in the States of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. All cases shall now filed as per their jurisdiction provided in this notification.

News from NIRC of ICSI

Registration open for NIRC’s Workshop on "NBFC" CS Vinod Kothari, on Saturday, the 18th February, 2017 (Registration starts at 9.00 AM) from 10.00 am onwards at Auditorium, ICSI-NIRC Building, 4, Prasad Nagar Institutional Area, New Delhi. Fee : Rs. 400/- upto 17-02-2017 for all participants including Corporate Members of NIRC; Online Payment / Registration can be made through PAYTM; Free For Members of YUVA Corporate Membership Scheme of NIRC; Program Credit Hours: 04.

IBBI:

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India has released the draft of the IBBI (Voluntary Liquidation) Regulations, 2017 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. These Regulations shall apply to the voluntary liquidation of corporate persons under Chapter V of Part II of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Further, all pending applications and petitions relating to voluntary winding up of companies pending before a High Court, shall continue with and dealt with by the High Court in accordance with provisions of the Act till 1st April. 2017 and shall be then transferred to NCLT.

CBDT

The Income Tax Department (ITD) had initiated ‘Operation Clean Money’ on 31st January, 2017 for the e-verification of large cash deposits made during 9th November to 30th December, 2016. Email and SMS were sent to 18 lakh taxpayers for submitting online response on the e-filing portal. The operation has seen an overwhelming response and till 12th February, 2017 more than 5.27 Lakh taxpayers have already submitted their response. The explanation of cash deposit submitted by the taxpayer is being analysed in the context of nature of business and business profile in the earlier returns of the taxpayer. In order to facilitate online responses to ‘Operation Clean Money’, the last date for their submission has been extended up to 15th February, 2017 and a detailed Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) has also been issued to assist the taxpayers in submitting their response. The taxpayers should submit their response within this further extended period with a view to avoid enforcement actions under the Income-tax Act and other applicable laws.

News from NIRC of ICSI

Registration open for NIRC’s Workshop on "NBFC" CS Vinod Kothari, on Saturday, the 18th February, 2017 (Registration starts at 9.00 AM) from 10.00 am onwards at Auditorium, ICSI-NIRC Building, 4, Prasad Nagar Institutional Area, New Delhi. Fee : Rs. 400/- upto 17-02-2017 for all participants including Corporate Members of NIRC; Online Payment / Registration can be made through PAYTM; Free For Members of YUVA Corporate Membership Scheme of NIRC; Program Credit Hours: 04.

CBDT

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has notified the Income Tax (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2017 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. The Amendment has been made to provide new procedure and common application form for allotment of PAN & TAN. Accordingly, an applicant may apply for allotment of PAN or TAN through a common application form notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette, and the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director General of Income-tax (Systems) shall specify the classes of persons, forms and formats along with procedure for safe and secure transmission of such forms and formats in relation to furnishing of PAN or TAN.

SEBI

The SEBI Board in its last meeting has taken various decisions’ to improve the facilities being offered to the stakeholders. The SEBI Board discussed the budget for the financial year 2017-18 was considered and approved by the Board. The Board also discussed the plan of action for FY 2017-18 which includes some major initiatives like Reducing the listing time gap by bringing down the issue timing from the existing requirement of T+6; Allowing, in consultation with Stakeholders and Regulators, institutional participation in commodity derivatives markets in phased manner; Designing a system of Risk Based Supervision for commodity brokers; Setting up a Cyber Security Lab for the securities market; Facilitating the objective of “Ease of doing Business”, introduction of common application form for registration, opening of bank and demat accounts, and issue of PAN for Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and Setting up a facility for online registration of intermediaries.

NCLT:

MCA has altered the Territorial Jurisdiction of National Company Law Tribunal Bench. In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 419 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby amends the notification of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Accordingly all cases pertaining to State of Haryana, shall be omitted from the Jurisdiction of National Company Law Tribunal, New Delhi Bench and shall be a under the jurisdiction of National Company Law Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench.

SEBI:

SEBI has issued guidelines for providing dedicated debt segment in the stock exchange for trading, clearing and settlement of debt securities including trading, clearing and settlement of corporate bonds. Further stock exchanges are directed to take necessary steps and put in place necessary systems for implementation of this circular immediately, make necessary amendments to the relevant bye-laws, rules and regulations for the implementation of the above decision; bring the provisions of this circular to the notice of the member brokers of the stock exchange and also to disseminate the same on the website.

MCA:

MCA has revised the versions of eforms – Form MGT – 7 (Form for filing annual return by a company), Form GNL-2 (Form for submission of documents with the Registrar.) and Form IEPF-5 (Application to the Authority for claiming unpaid amounts and shares out of Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF)). The revised forms will be available on the portal on the portal w.e.f 9th February, 2017 of MCA. Stakeholders are advised to download the latest version before filing. Form- wise date of last version change is available at on the website of MCA.

RBI

RBI has issued Removal of limits on withdrawal of cash from Saving Bank Accounts. In line with the pace of remonetisation, it has now been decided to remove the restrictions on cash withdrawals from Saving Bank accounts (including accounts opened under PMJDY) in a two-step process. Effective February 20, 2017, the limits on cash withdrawals from the Savings Bank accounts will be enhanced to Rs. 50,000 per week (from the current limit of Rs. 24,000 per week); and Effective March 13, 2017, there will be no limits on cash withdrawals from Savings Bank accounts.

News from NIRC of ICSI

NIRC of ICSI is organising an one day Seminar on the theme "Corporate Restructuring –Role of Company Secretary Under New Regime" on Saturday, the 11th February, 2017 from 10.00 AM onwards at Hotel Le-Meridien, Janpath, New Delhi. In order to make necessary arrangements, members are required to enroll well in advance with NIRC. Fee : Rs. 2,250/- & free for the Corporate Members of NIRC. Online Payment/ Registration can be made through PAYTM. PCH – 4.