Page 15 - Banking Finance August 2024

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make it more taxpayer-friendly, follow- This centre of excellence will also lead (BSDA) five-fold to achieve wider finan-
ing suggestions that the programme the work and coordination of the cial inclusion and reduce the cost of
can be made more effective. implementation of the plan for DPI and maintaining securities in demat ac-

A hybrid formula is being examined DPG proliferation in G20 nations and counts for retail investors.
that could allow taxpayers to pick ei- the Global South, the official said. At present, an individual can hold debt
ther the faceless scheme or in-person Digital public infrastructure and digital and other securities worth up to Rs. 2
resolution, people familiar with the public goods are developed as under- lakh in a single demat account to be
development told. lying architecture protocols by state eligible for BSDA. This may be en-
"It is being reviewed to assess effec- and central government-run agencies hanced to Rs. 10 lakh, effective Sep-
tiveness," said an official, adding that as well as some private institutions. tember 1.
there is a line of thinking that it should Companies and startups are invited to The regulator is also reviewing the
be made optional for taxpayers. build applications and services on top account maintenance charges for
of the underlying architecture. BSDA and the services provided
Another official said the idea is to ad-
dress challenges in its implementation through it. Accounts that hold up to Rs.
to ease compliance further for taxpay- GST mop-up Rs. 1.74 tril- 1 lakh in debt securities and Rs. 50,000
ers. A final call will be taken shortly, the lion, growth slows to 7.7% in other-than-debt securities are not
official said. The gross goods and services tax (GST) charged anything currently. This limit
may be revised to Rs. 4 lakh. Those
The scheme was introduced on April 1, collection for June 2024 stood at Rs holding between Rs. 4 lakh and Rs. 10
2021, to reduce the human interface 1.74 trillion, marking 7.7 per cent year- lakh may be charged Rs. 100.
in tax disputes and assessments. Under on-year (Y-o-Y) growth, an official
the system, the income tax depart- source disclosed to Business Standard.
ment processes return, issues refunds, This Y-o-Y growth is notably less than CJI advises SEBI to be cau-
conducts tax assessments and scrutiny, the 12.4 per cent and 10 per cent in- tious on surging markets
and manages appeals. The assessing creases recorded in April and May, re- Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud
officer is assigned cases at random, spectively. Month-on-month figures, advised markets regulator Sebi and the
without following geographical jurisdic- too, were flat. Securities Appellate Tribunal to exer-
tion. cise caution amid a significant surge in
In May this year, the gross GST collec-
equity markets and pitched for more
tion amounted to Rs 1.73 trillion, while
Govt plans centre of excel- April witnessed a record-high GST col- tribunal benches to ensure that the
lence for Digital Public lection of Rs 2.1 trillion. The June rev- "backbone is stable".
enue brought the financial year-to- Inaugurating the new SAT premises
Goods R&D date total to Rs 5.57 trillion, said the here, CJI Chandrachud pitched for au-

The government plans to set up a cen- source. thorities to consider opening up new
tre of excellence to work on research "Growth is not as robust as in past benches of the SAT given the higher
and development in digital public infra- months, with various underlying factors workload because of the higher quan-
structure (DPI) and digital public goods contributing to this. Nevertheless, the tum of transactions and newer regu-
(DPG), people in the know told ET. upward trend is expected to continue lations.
"There are a lot of applications in the in the upcoming months, with gross Referring to newspaper articles calling
DPI space built on top of the protocols collections likely to remain above the Rs the crossing of 80,000-point-milestone
developed by both the public and pri- 1.6 trillion mark," the official said. by the BSE as an ecstatic moment,
vate sectors. What is needed now is where India is entering a "strato-
participation from universities and col- SEBI raises basic demat spheric domain", the CJI pointed out
leges, research institutes and academ- that such events emphasise the need
ics on various innovations that can be limit five-fold for regulatory authorities to ensure
done in the existing models," an offi- The SEBI proposed to raise the thresh- that everyone holds their "balance and
cial said. old for a basic service demat account nerves" amid the wins.

14 | 2024 | AUGUST | BANKING FINANCE