Page 13 - Banking Finance May 2019 N

ROUNDUP

Government to borrow SEBI extends UPI timeline to June 30
Rs. 4.42 trn in first half of SEBI extended the timeline for the implementation of phase 1 of Unified Pay-
ments Interface (UPI) as an alternative
2019-20 payment mechanism for retail investors

The government's first half gross buying shares in a public issue.
borrowing To ensure smooth transition to UPI in
would be Rs ASBA (Application Supported by Block
4.42 trillion, Amount) and in the back drop of the rep-
about 62.25 resentation received from various stake-
per cent of the holders, SEBI said, "it has been decided to
total planned for the full 2019-20. extend the timeline for implementation of Phase I... by 3 months i.e. till June

Generally, the government front- 30, 2019"
loads the borrowing to leave the sec- However, the timeline for implementing phase 2 and phase 3 shall remain un-
ond half to corporate borrowers to changed from the date of completion of phase 1, SEBI said in a circular. In
raise money. However, in 2018-19, November 2018, the regulator had said it would launch UPI as an alternative
the government decided to borrow payment option for retail investors buying shares in a public issue in a phased
47.5 per cent in the first half, as bond manner from January 1, 2019, which will cut listing time for an IPO to three
yields moved up rapidly since Sep- days from existing six days.
tember 2017. The share of the total
borrowing is largely in line with mar- It had further said the new mechanism would increase the efficiency of the
ket expectations. The expectation existing system and curtail the need for manual intervention. Currently, retail
was that there will be 60-62 per cent investors either invest in an initial public offering (IPO) through bank ASBA or
borrowing in the first half (H1). through broker ASBA, where the broker does the bidding and hands over the
application form to the investors' bank.
The calendar released by the Re-
With the UPI mechanism, the existing process of physical movement of forms
serve Bank of India (RBI) on its
from intermediaries to banks for blocking of funds will be discontinued. UPI is
website showed that the weekly bor-
rowing would be Rs 17,000 crore, an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of
less than the Rs 18,000 crore wit- India (NPCI). It allows instant transfer of money between any two persons' bank
accounts using a payment address which uniquely identifies a person's bank
nessed by the market in H2, FY19.
account.
SEBI to recruit 44 DGMs

The Securities and Exchange Board Over 100,000 HNIs under I-T scanner for AY 12-13
of India is in the process of recruit- Over 100,000 taxpayers across the country, particularly high networth individu-
ing 44 deputy general managers als, have come under the scanner of the
(DGMs). The regulator has sent inter- income-tax (I-T) department for the as-
view calls to 140 candidates and in- sessment year (AY) 2012-13. According to
terviews will begin from April 16, sources in the know, the department has
sources said. This is the second ma- issued notices under Section 148 of the I-T
jor recruitment drive after SEBI had Act to reopen returns for scrutiny, saying
called for filling 120 vacancies last some portions of income had escaped as-
September. This apart, SEBI has pro- sessment.
moted its staff to the rank of chief The notices were issued mostly between
general manager and above in the March 15 and March 31, amid fear of revenue slippage. The last date for re-
past few months. The regulator has
opening the tax assessment for AY 2012-13 was March 31, 2019.
been in the process of upscaling its
workforce in several departments. The identified taxpayers have been asked to provide income details along with
profit and loss for AY 2012-13 within 30 days.

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