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Stock trades to be settled would power instantaneous settle- verified ITRs, have been processed,"
ments. the CBDT said in a statement. Refunds
in 1 hour from March 2024 have been issued for more than 2.45

In a little more than a year from now, Over 6 crore ITR filings crore filers for AY 2023-24.
investors in the Indian stock market
could get their trades settled instanta- processed for AY 2034-24 Rs. 5,517 crore loans dis-
neously, the first country to achieve As many as 6.98 crore tax returns have
such a feat globally. As a precursor, the been filed for income earned in 2022- bursed in August: Paytm
market would move to a one-hour 23 fiscal and out of them, more than 6 Paytm said it disbursed $667 million
settlement cycle around March, a Sebi crore filings have been processed, the (Rs.5,517 crore) loans through its plat-
source said. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) form and deployed 87 lakh devices for
The faster settlement cycle, however, said. offline payments in August.
will be optional for stock market inves- The CBDT - the apex decision making The fintech platform said in a regula-
tors since some institutions have raised body in matters of income and corpo- tory filing that on an average 9.4 crore
concerns about shorter settlement rate taxes - said the department is not users transacted through Paytm
cycles. able to process certain Income Tax monthly during July and August this
Returns (ITRs) for want of certain in-
Currently, the Indian market operates year, which was 20 per cent higher
on a T+1 cycle. Shares bought reflect formation/action on the part of tax- than the average number of users re-
payers.
in the demat account the next day. corded during the same period last
Ditto proceeds of stock sales in the Of the total ITRs filed, about 14 lakh year.
bank account. are yet to be verified by taxpayers "Our loan distribution business (in part-
"From January 2024, the Indian mar- while the department has sought fur- nership with our lender partners) con-
ket would move to an ASBA-like trad- ther information from another 12 lakh tinues to gain scale with disbursements
ing cycle, and in about 2-3 months af- taxpayers, for which requisite commu- of Rs 10,710 crore ($1.3 billion, y-o-y
ter that, we would move to a one- nication has been sent through their e- growth of 137 per cent) and 88 lakh
hour settlement cycle," a Sebi source filing accounts. loans (y-o-y growth of 47 per cent) dis-
said. Besides, certain ITR filers are yet to bursed in quarter to date for the
"We are ready with the technology validate their bank accounts. month of July and August 2023 com-
that would power the one-hour settle- "As on September 5, 6.98 crore ITRs bined, through the Paytm platform,"
ment cycle. An instantaneous settle- for Assessment Year 2023-24 have the company shared in its operating
ment cycle could take some more been filed, of which 6.84 crore have performance report for August.
time," since the regulator is currently been verified. Of these, more than 6 The number of merchants paying sub-
working on the trading system that crore ITRs, or 88 per cent of the total scription for payment devices stood at

10 | 2023 | OCTOBER | BANKING FINANCE