Page 12 - Banking Finance December 2016

ROUNDUP

GST can be paid using debit / credit cards: Hasmukh
Cabinet approves stake
Adhia
sale of state-owned
Individuals and entities can pay taxes online using debit or credit cards once the
companies Goods and Services Tax (GST) is rolled out, revenue secre-
The cabinet has given in-principle ap- tary Hasmukh Adhia said. The government proposes to roll
proval to out the new indirect tax regime from 1 April next year and
strategic has made registration, refunds, returns filing and payment
stake sales in processes online.
some state- "With regard to payments, the best thing that will hap-
owned com-
pen is all payments will have to be made online. You can
panies on
use any mode of payment; electronic, NEFT (National Electronic Funds Trans-
the recommendations of the govern-
fer), RTGS (Real-time gross settlement systems). You can do it through debit cards
ment think tank NITI Aayog.
or credit cards of any bank," he said.
"Strategic sales will involve a change Adhia added that GST will also ensure that taxes deducted by sellers reach the
in management control. Some of government.
these are important units. Since each
unit will be considered at its own Airports see large queues on account of demonetisation
merit, timing will also be decided ac-
Airlines witnessed a mad rush at airport counters as these were among the few
cordingly. Valuations will also be
places allowed to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes af-
done," finance minister Arun Jaitley
said. ter demonetisation took effect.
However, the government did not Airline officials feel such tickets may be cancelled later
as the money will be refunded. "Only about Rs 1,100-
disclose the number and names of
public sector companies in which it 1,200 will be charged as cancellation fee," said an offi-
cial. However, airlines like IndiGo and GoAir did not accept high denomination
will sell stakes.
notes for inflight sale.
India offers to buy 200 SEBI issues clarification on voluntary delisting norms
foreign combat jets According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India

made in India (SEBI), companies cannot apply for voluntary delisting of
their shares unless they have been listed in a recognized
India is offering to buy hundreds of
fighter planes stock exchange for at least three years.
from foreign The regulator said that no recognized stock exchange
manufactur- will permit such delisting until three years have passed
ers - as long since the listing of the shares of that company.
as the jets are made in India and
with a local partner, air force officials Fiscal deficit in the first half stands at 84%
say. Fiscal deficit in the first half of the current fiscal stood at Rs 4.47 lakh crore, or
A deal for 200 single-engine planes 83.9 per cent of the budget estimate (BE) for
produced in India - which the air the whole year. The fiscal situation in April-
force says could rise to 300 as it fully September deteriorated over the year-ago
phases out ageing Soviet-era aircraft period as the deficit then stood at 68.1 per
- could be worth anything from $13- cent of the budget estimate of 2015-16. Fiscal
$15 billion, experts say, potentially deficit, the gap between expenditure and rev-
one of the country's biggest military enue for the entire fiscal, has been pegged at Rs 5.33 lakh crore, or 3.5 per cent
aircraft deals. of GDP, in 2016-17.

12 | 2016 | DECEMBER | BANKING FINANCE

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