Real Estate Bill approved by Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015, as reported by the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha. The Bill will now be taken up for consideration and passing by the Parliament.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill is a pioneering initiative to protect the interest of consumers, promote fair play in real estate transactions and to ensure timely execution of projects.

The Bill provides uniform regulatory environment to ensure speedy adjudication of disputes and orderly growth of the real estate sector. It will boost domestic and foreign investment in the Real Estate sector and help achieve the objective of Government of India to provide ‘Housing for All’ by enhanced private participation.

The Bill ensures mandatory disclosure by promoters to the customers through registration of real estate projects as well as real estate agents with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. The Bill aims at restoring confidence of consumers in the real estate sector; by institutionalizing transparency and accountability in real estate and housing transactions which will further enable the sector to access capital and financial markets. The Bill will promote orderly growth through consequent efficient project execution, professionalism and standardization.

The salient features of the Bill are as under:

1. Applicable both for commercial and residential real estate projects.

2. Establishment of ‘Real Estate Regulatory Authority’ in States/UTs to regulate real estate transactions.

3. Registration of real estate projects and real estate agents with the Authority.

4. Mandatory disclosure of all registered projects, including details of the promoter, project, layout plan, land status, approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents, contractors, architect, structural engineer etc.

5. Deposit of specified amount in a separate bank account to cover the construction cost of the project for timely completion of the project.

6. Establishment of fast track dispute resolution mechanisms for settlement of disputes through adjudicating officers and Appellate Tribunal.

7. Civil courts jurisdiction prohibited from taking up matters defined in Bill, however, consumer court allowed to hear real estate matters.

8. Promoters barred from changing plans and design without consent of consumers.

9. Provision of Appropriate Government to make rules for the matters specified in the Bill, and the Regulatory Authority to make necessary regulations.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

International Anti-Corruption Day

This International Anti-Corruption Day, Let's All Unite Against Corruption & Remove this Evil from Our Country and let's work towards a better nation.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Pending IT refunds to be expedited

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued directions for expediting pending refunds below Rs. 50,000/ for Assessment Year(s) 2013-14 and 2014-15 in all cases except those selected for scrutiny.

The Income-tax Department is committed to improving taxpayer services and redressing grievances in a timely manner.

The status of outstanding refunds was reviewed recently. Following the review, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued directions to its field formations to expedite the issue of pending refunds below Rs. 50,000/ for assessment years 2013-14 and 2014-15 in all such cases which have not been selected for scrutiny. The field formations and the Central Processing Centre (CPC), Bengaluru have been directed to complete the process as early as possible.

This initiative is expected to significantly reduce taxpayer grievances and enhance the taxpayer satisfaction.

The communication is available on the website of the Department at www.incometaxindia.gov.in

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

WIRC Elections: Vote and Make a Difference

Make Your Voice heard.

This WIRC Elections, Do Vote

CA Kasliwal Ambar

Ballot No. 26

WIRC Elections 2015 - CA Kasliwal Ambar Profile

I would like to take this opportunity to brief and introduce myself. I am Commerce Graduate from The University of Rajasthan and a Fellow Member of the Institute qualified in the year 2002. I have successfully completed the Certificate Course on Valuation and Certificate Course on International Taxation organized by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. I have been fortunate enough to advise top names in the field of Media & Advertising, Venture Capital Funds, Courier Cargo & Logistics, Pharma and Diagnostic Centre’s as clients including industry leaders. Has expertise in setting up Venture Capital Funds and my main forte is Media & Entertainment Industry.

I have acted as coordinator for conducting the certificate course on International Taxation in Mumbai and other than submitting various representations to government departments on behalf of the CA fraternity, I have also been a regular contributor and speaker at various study circles and seminars.

I have also been actively involved in various trade and other organizations including the following -

• Sub group member of GMCS Coordination Committee for the Year 2015-2016

• An Active member of Kandivali Borivali East CPE Study Circle.

• Active member of Bombay Chartered Accountant Society (BCAS), Mumbai.

• Life member of The Chamber of Tax Consultants, Mumbai.

• Patron Life member of Jain International Trade Organization (JITO).

• Charter Member of Rotary Club of Mumbai Western Elite.

• An Active member of Bharat Vikas Parishad, New Delhi.

• Actively associated with various religious, educational and professional organizations.

• Core team member for building a Hostel for CA students in Malad, Mumbai.

Given the spectrum of my experience as practising chartered accountant, I am able to identify with the tribulations that a fresh chartered accountant both who are in practice or who chose to serve the industry. I am also aware of the challenges faced by my fellow members.

With my exposure of over a decade to varied environments and interaction with professional network and other social platforms that I have built over, will enable me to make constructive and valuable contribution to CA fraternity and WIRC.

Thank You!

My Vision for ICAI

I humbly put forward the following points which I strongly feel about to be my core agenda but most importantly I present myself to you as your voice and your representative in the council.

1. Work for providing proper infrastructure for fresh Chartered Accountants.

Presently, Fresh Chartered Accountants who wish to opt for practice have to incur monthly fixed expenses of 40-50K approx per month irrespective of the professional inflows. Institute has a lot of underutilized space within its premises. Why can’t these spaces be allocated to fresh members free of cost with all infrastructure like wi-fi, printer etc, where they can have client meetings. This will save the initial fixed cost of members.

2. Ensure reservation/ preference for CA’s with less than 5 years of experience.

The reservation can be for certification work, Society Audits, Stock/concurrent/expenses Audits of Banks, MCA Audits, and NREGA audits under quality supervision. Such reservation will promote members to come in practice and will also help members to plan their practice and specialization.

3. Introduction of concept of Industrial training

There has to be a change in CA Curriculum and should be made more practical. What is the use of doing audits under article ship for members who wish to go for service in the industry. Instead, the CA course should specifically give an option to the members during last year of article ship to opt for Industrial Training. This will help members to adapt to the corporate culture. The Institute has to play an active role in inviting the big corporate houses to shortlist/ select the articles. Once the Training period is over, the company can absorb the member.

4. Campus placement for both young and experienced Chartered Accountants.

At present, the institute arranges campus placement only for fresh Chartered Accountants. I seriously want to extend this placement program for experienced chartered accountants as well.

5. Work from the home concept for female chartered accountants, who wish to work but due to family commitments, post marriage, are compelled to give up their professional dreams.

6. Minimum recommended fees for professional services should be made mandatory and should not be recommendatory in nature.

7. CA Curriculum to be made more practical.

The CA course should be divided into two parts: Part 1 of 30 months only for members who wish to opt for service and Part 2 of additional 9 months for members who wish to go for practice. The COP should be issued only after the member completes Part 1 and passing the exam of an additional subject, which is to be taught in these nine months. The additional chapter should include Valuation, International Tax, Business Finance, System Audits, Forex/ Treasury management and SAP.

8. Reconnect the members in the industry with the Institute.

9. Online portal for the job vacancy and resume update.

10. Establish a separate dedicated desk for Career Counseling at each branch.

11. Result oriented chase for online Voting in ICAI Elections.

12. Establish Tax Clinic at the branch level to resolve queries from industry experts.

13. Ensure reduction in participation costs of various seminars to increase participation.

14. Recommend CPE hour credits for participation in the meetings, seminars, courses conducted by BCAS/ CTC/ other registered bodies beyond 20 hours.

15. Ensure steps for encouraging professional networking amongst the members.

I know it may be contested that some of the above agenda fall in the ambit of Central Council and not under Regional Council. But friends, you too will appreciate that there has to be someone in Regional Council who can push the Central Council members to work and bring the above changes. I promise you of my constant interaction during my tenure as your representative to take your suggestions/grievances and find reasonable solutions at WIRC level. While it is my earnest desire to meet and greet you in person, you will appreciate that owing to our vast constituency and the time constraint, it may not be feasible logistically. I would, therefore, sincerely request you to treat this communication as my personal appeal to you.

In the end, I hope that no member would waste his franchise and throw away his vote by voting for anyone solely on account of his religious, social or cultural affinity. When I have to choose between voting for the people or common special interests, I always stick with the special Interest. People forget common special interest remain. And with the above background, I request you to kindly support me in this endeavor by casting 1st Preference/Best Preference Vote in my favor.

Thank You!

Single transferable system of voting – An appraisal

The next elections to the Council and Regional Councils of the Institute will be held on 4th and 5th December, 2015 at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi/New Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Surat and Thane and on 5th December, 2015 at all other places where polling booths have been set up. The members especially those who are new would, naturally, be interested in knowing how the “single transferable vote” system under which the elections are held operates. The broad details of the system are given below:

1. Each voter has only one vote for election to the Council and one vote for election to the Regional Council. The voter, in order to cast his vote, shall place on his ballot paper the number 1 (in Arabic or Roman numerals, or in words) against the name of the candidate for whom he desires to vote, and may, in addition, place on his ballot paper the number 2, or numbers 2 and 3, or the numbers 2, 3 and 4 and so on opposite the names of other candidates in the order of his preference. A voter has as many preferences as the total number of candidates from that Regional Constituency/ Regional Council. However, for the purpose of facilitating the process of election by avoiding fractions, each valid vote is notionally considered to be of the value of 100 so that if a part of the vote has subsequently to be transferred from one candidate to another (next in the order of preference), it does not become necessary to resort to fractions, which would make the counting cumbersome.

2. At the time of counting of votes, the covers containing the postal ballot papers are opened and the voting papers are separated. To these are added the voting papers taken out from the ballot boxes used at different polling booths. The ballot papers are, in the first place, examined and invalid papers are rejected and excluded from the process of counting. The total value of the valid votes is then calculated by multiplying the number of such votes by 100, as mentioned above. This total value is then divided by the number of vacancies increased by one, and the quotient increased by one gives the value that is required for any candidate to get elected. This figure is termed as the “quota”. Thus, if in a constituency, eight members are to be elected and there are 4,500 valid votes, the quota will be:-

4500 x 100
---------------- + 1 = 50,001
8+1

In other words, a candidate should get 50,001 votes to get elected. The addition of one to the quotient is explained by the fact that if it is not done, there is a possibility that more candidates may get elected than the number of vacancies.

The First Count

3. After working out the “quota”, the votes are sorted out and divided into parcels according to the candidates for whom the first preference is marked on the respective votes. The value of the first preference votes received by each candidate is then worked out and the process is known as the first count.

4. All the candidates, the value of whose votes is equal to or greater than the quota, are declared elected. The votes of the candidates who obtain exactly the quota are set aside as there is no question of transfer of any surplus from those votes.

Transfer of Surplus and Subsequent Counts

5. Then starts the process of transfer of the surplus values of the votes of those candidates who have secured more than the quota at the first count. Their cases are taken one by one in the strict order of the value of their votes, the largest surplus being dealt with first. In case no candidate obtains the quota in the first count, exclusion of candidates is resorted to (see para 12).

6. The votes of the candidate whose surplus is to be transferred are scrutinized and all those votes which are capable of being transferred (viz., on which the next preference is marked for a candidate, who has not already been elected, or if the next preference is marked for an elected candidate, the preference marked next to that and so on) are separated. The remaining votes which are not capable of further transfer are set aside and treated as exhausted.

(7.1) Before the votes are transferred to the candidates marked next in preference, a new value of each vote is worked out. This value is arrived at by dividing the total surplus of the candidate by the number of votes to be transferred, the remainder being ignored, subject to the condition that the new value does not exceed the original value at which the vote was received by the candidate whose surplus is being transferred (viz., 100 in the case of first preference votes).

(7.2) Thus, if after the first count, a candidate has a surplus of 2,962 and there are 65 votes in his parcel which are capable of being transferred, each vote will be transferred at the new value of (2,962÷65) 45. The remainder of 37 [2962-(65x45 = 37)] is treated as loss in value.

8. The votes under transfer are then divided into parcels according to the candidates to whom they are to be transferred. The parcels of the transferred votes are also added as sub-parcels to the parcels of original (viz., first preference) votes of the candidates concerned. The total value of the votes going to a particular candidate is obtained by multiplying the new value of each vote by the number of votes going to him and is added to the value of his original votes. The result of the transfer is then struck out and the candidates who obtain at this stage the “quota” are also declared as elected.

9. This process of transfer of the surpluses of the elected candidates continues till the required number of candidates are elected or till all the surpluses have been dealt with.

10. As already stated, the surpluses are transferred in the strict order of their value, but all surpluses arising at an earlier count are disposed of before the surpluses arising at subsequent counts are taken up.

11. In the case of transfer of surplus of a candidate who was not elected at the first count but only as a result of transfer of some votes to him at a subsequent count, since the surplus arises out of the last sub-parcel of his votes, it is only the last sub- parcel that is scrutinized and the unexhausted votes contained therein which are capable of further transfer are revalued, in the manner stated in para 7.1 and 7.2 above, and then transferred to the candidates marked next in order of preference. If there is no vote in the last sub-parcel which is capable of further transfer, the whole of the surplus is treated as loss in value.

Exclusion of Candidates

12. When there is no surplus left for transfer and the number of candidates elected is less than the number of seats, the exclusion of candidates is resorted to. The process of exclusion comprises the transfer of votes (both original and transferred) of the candidate to be excluded to the candidates marked next in order of preference and who have not already been elected or excluded.

13. The candidate, the value of whose votes is lowest at the time of exclusion, is first excluded.

14. The parcels and the sub-parcels of the votes of the candidates to be excluded are taken up one by one in the order in which they were received and the votes contained in each parcel and sub-parcel which are capable of further transfer are transferred to the candidates marked next in order of preference at the same value at which they were received by him. Each parcel and sub-parcel is dealt with separately. It is only after the parcel and all the sub-parcels have been duly transferred that count is completed.

15. If, as a result of transfer of votes of a parcel, or a sub-parcel, any other candidate secures the quota and is elected, the count in progress is completed but no further votes are transferred to the elected candidate from the subsequent sub-parcels. The following example would make it clear. Let us suppose that the votes of candidate “A” who is to be excluded consist of the original parcel and two sub-parcels subsequently transferred to him. Suppose as a result of the transfer of votes contained in the original parcel, another candidate “B” gets elected. Then the remaining two sub-parcels will be dealt with one by one but no vote therefrom will be transferred to candidate “B” and such of the votes as would have normally gone to “B” will now be straightaway transferred to the candidates marked next to “B” in the order of preference on the respective votes.

16. The process of exclusion continues till the requisite number of candidates has been elected or the number of candidates left in the field (i.e., the continuing candidates) is equal to the number of vacancies still unfilled.

17. If, as a result of any exclusion, another candidate gets the quota and is thus elected, no further exclusion is done till the surplus of the elected candidate has been transferred and it becomes necessary thereafter to again resort to exclusion. In other words, a candidate is to be excluded only when there is no surplus to be transferred.

(18.1)If, at any time during the course of counting of votes, the number of candidates remaining in the field is reduced to the number of vacancies not yet filled, all those candidates are declared as elected without resorting to any further calculations.

(18.2)It, therefore, follows that a candidate may be elected even though he does not get the required quota.

19. If at a particular time only one vacancy is left unfilled and the value of votes (both original and transferred) of anyone continuing candidate at that time exceeds the total value of votes of all the other candidates left in the field, including the surplus of any candidate not yet transferred, that candidate is declared as elected.

20. When after counting of votes, a tie is found to exist between candidates, regard is given to the original votes and if the original votes are also equal, then the process of draw of lots is resorted to. In case of tie amongst more than two candidates, the candidate whose slip is picked up is excluded from the poll. If the tie is between two candidates, the candidate whose slip is picked remains in the poll or declared as successful, as the case may be.

- CA Kasliwal Ambar

ICAI proposal to least developed countries for developing their accounting profession.

Aiding transition and emerging economies, ICAI has been advocating the need for creating a sustainable framework of accounting in countries lacking accounting Infrastructure/where accountancy profession is evolving for creating a cadre of accounting professional who are able to support the evolution of Industry by propagating and putting in place a compliance regime and sound framework for reporting practices.

A very strong role is played by accountancy institutes in economic growth of countries and in capacity building. It is important to have a well-developed accounting institute which would help in developing competent accounting professionals and in promoting strong professional and ethical standards.

ICAI’s endeavor is to help Least Developing Countries (LDC’s) to establish Accounting Institute in those economies where the same does not exist and in further strengthening the accounting infrastructures in those countries where the same exists. ICAI proposes to undertake off- site and if required on-site study of the accounting profession in the relevant LDC in order to design its methodology and approach to forward the overall project.

- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Government to Issue Sovereign Gold Bonds

Government of India, in consultation with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has decided to issue Sovereign Gold Bonds. The Bonds will be issued on November 26, 2015. Applications for the bond will be accepted from November 05, 2015 to November 20, 2015. The Bonds will be sold through banks and designated post offices as may be notified. The borrowing through issuance of the Bond will form part of market borrowing programme of Government of India.


It may be recalled that the Finance Minister had announced in Union Budget 2015-16 about developing a financial asset, Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.

The major features of the Bond are given below:

• Product name- Sovereign Gold Bond
• Issuance- To be issued by Reserve Bank India on behalf of the Government of India.
• Eligibility- The Bonds will be restricted for sale to resident Indian entities including individuals, HUFs, trusts, Universities, charitable institutions.
• Denomination- The Bonds will be denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram.
• Tenor- The tenor of the Bond will be for a period of 8 years with exit option from 5th year to be exercised on the interest payment dates.
• Minimum size- Minimum permissible investment will be 2 units (i.e. 2 grams of gold).
• Maximum limit- The maximum amount subscribed by an entity will not be more than 500 grams per person per fiscal year (April-March). A self-declaration to this effect will be obtained.
• Joint holder- In case of joint holding, the investment limit of 500 grams will be applied to the first applicant only.
• Frequency- The Bonds will be issued in tranches. Each tranche will be kept open for a period to be notified. The issuance date will also be specified in the notification.
• Issue price- Price of Bond will be fixed in Indian Rupees on the basis of the previous week’s (Monday–Friday) simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd. (IBJA).
• Payment option- Payment for the Bonds will be through electronic funds transfer/cash payment/ cheque/ demand draft.
• Issuance form- Government of India Stock under GS Act, 2006. The investors will be issued a Stock/Holding Certificate. The Bonds are eligible for conversion into demat form.
• Redemption price- The redemption price will be in Indian Rupees based on previous week’s (Monday-Friday) simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by IBJA.
• Sales channel- Bonds will be sold through banks and designated Post Offices, as may be notified, either directly or through agents.
• Interest rate- The investors will be compensated at a fixed rate of 2.75 per cent per annum payable semi-annually on the initial value of investment.
• Collateral- Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is to be set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by the Reserve Bank from time to time.
• KYC Documentation- Know-your-customer (KYC) norms will be the same as that for purchase of physical gold. KYC documents such as Voter ID, Aadhaar card/PAN or TAN /Passport will be required.
• Tax treatment- The interest on Gold Bonds shall be taxable as per the provision of Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) and the capital gains tax shall also remain same as in the case of physical gold.
• Tradability- Bonds will be tradable on exchanges/NDS-OM from a date to be notified by RBI.
• SLR eligibility- The Bonds will be eligible for Statutory Liquidity Ratio.
• Commission- Commission for distribution shall be paid at the rate of 1% of the subscription amount.

IIT Delhi uses lottery system to select students who will meet Mark Zuckerberg

When Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg interacts with students and faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi in a town hall on Wednesday, most students will be sitting out. Almost everyone of the over 8,000­ strong student community at the IIT wants to meet and, if possible, ask a question to Zuckerberg, a role model for many of them. But the venue where the tech entrepreneur is holding the town hall is too small to accommodate all of them. Only one in nine students will get an entry to the hall and they have been selected through a lottery. The hall has a seating capacity for 1,100, but only 900 of the seats are reserved for students. The entire session is being handled by a Facebook team.

It started the process last Thursday and the response so far has been huge. When an invite was posted on the IIT website, 1,300 students filled up the application form in the first two hours. Facebook discontinued the link after it got 3,500 applications. "Town hall has always been popular, but not like this one," said a faculty at IIT Delhi. "Mark is a role model for most of the students as he is easy to identify with. Also as the focus of both the institute and students is moving towards entrepreneurship and innovation, his visit has created a lot of enthusiasm." Zuckerberg is expected to speak for 15 minutes and spend the next hour answering questions from the audience.

Arshad Nasser, one of the lucky students selected to participate in the town hall, said there would be no direct questioning, though most town hall meetings allow that. "I wonder whether my question would be read out on Wednesday." Nasser, who is in his final year of Master's in Design, said he was not sure whether it was the question he had put in the application form for Zuckerberg or the lottery that got him through. His question was: "Will FB extend itself as a physical product so that it can interact with devices at home and also connect with social circle?"

Jyoti Meena, a final year B.­Tech student, said many of her friends who could not make it to the list were upset. Still, she said the Facebook chief 's visit itself has created excitement on the campus. "Before any town hall, there are posters, banners, etc. but this time there was nothing but still the entire campus is abuzz with FB," she said. Her question for Zuckerberg is: "What was your Eureka moment that helped you decide that to pursue with FB?" Dhiritraj Das, a third ­year dual degree (Bio-Chemical engineering and Bio-­technology) student, is one of the majority who could not make it to the list of students who received invites for the town hall. Das is already an entrepreneur and is busy bringing an e-commerce venture, called All Day Sports, to life. "I wanted to ask Zuckerberg a question on the Internet.org. As I would want to know what technology support will FB provide for this so that rural and backward areas in the country get access to the Internet?"

A Facebook spokesman said the upcoming event is a rare occasion for the company to have the media invited in any country. "It is mainly because India is one of the countries with largest users outside of the US for the company," he said. Zuckerberg in his earlier speeches at the company headquarters had shared his views on India. "India is personally very important to the history of our company here. This is a story that I have not told publicly and very few people know," he had said. During his visit, Zuckerberg is likely to be mostly in Delhi, said a source.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Reference -

• ET

What the Wolf Of Wall Street has to say on Indian Economy

Views of Jordan Belfort

Market is current on bumpy ride where we are seeing one day market is going up and second day market corrects. This is a very negative sign as market is highly volatile and is making new low at each trading session. Last week we had made a low of 7850 and this week we made a low of 7650. Now the whole street is taking of 7500 and 7200. But our conviction is clear that market has bottomed out and we don’t see any further pain on street. A 50-60 pts correction is possible but chances of markets getting back to 8000 levels are high. Currently global concern is resulting in shrinking on market and in compare of Global scenario Indian fundamentals are far better so every fall is a buy and this is the right time to buy. Valuations are quite cheap and long term bet is surely on India. Banking stock has been heavily hit in last 15 trading session. Bank nifty has corrected from 19000 to 16500. PSU Bank like SBI, OBC, BOI, Corporation Bank are all trading at 52 and 72 week lows. Most of the banking stocks are available at 2013 lows so we advise to buy these stocks as rebound in PSU banks is definitely around the corner. Most of the PSU bank are available at P/BV of 0.32 and lower which is surely a buying opportunity. We are once again advising you that currently the whole street is in a mood to sell and this is the best opportunity to buy as the same people will come back to buy at 8000 and 8100 levels. So don’t miss the chance. We, at CNI, are bulls on street. Currently market has been surrounded by full negativity.

No one is ready to buy. We are talking with many retailers, brokers, investors and all are afraid to invest as all have one opinion in common that nifty will touch 7000 levels. Media, Analyst, Foreign brokers all are talking negative and are bearish on stocks. Poor monsoon, failed parliament session, Bihar election and earning of companies is in the mind of the people. We believe Indian economy is in a far better state than 2013. We have strong foreign reserves to protect downside risk of our currency. Crude price is another boon for the economy. Coming to reformative action Govt. action will fail till 2016 as Rajya-Sabha fails majority and will gain majority only in 2016. So we should give the new Govt some time and wait for results. Bihar election is a strong trigger and we estimate NDA Govt. will gain majority.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Update: No more Service Tax on Yoga Training

CBEC vide its Notification No. 20/2015-Service Tax dated 21-10-2015 amended Notification No. 25/2012-Service Tax, dated the 20th June, 2012 to provide following new exemptions from levy of service tax:

No More Service Tax on Yoga Training:

Now 'Yoga' gets place in Mega Exemption Notification w.e.f. 23-10-2015. Earlier the exemption was extended to only Services by an entity registered under section 12AA of the Income tax Act, 1961.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Amazon Growth Story continues - Business quadrupled in 2015

Amazon Inc's India business has quadrupled in 2015 over the previous year as customers and sellers have risen more than threefold, helped by a similar surge in "fulfillment capacity" as online shopping gathers momentum across the country. "Active customer accounts are up 230 per cent year ­over ­year. We are in the middle of the Diwali season that is going really well," Brian Olsavsky, chief financial officer at Seattle based Amazon, said on an investor call on Thursday, the first time that these numbers have been made public. "The number of sellers has grown more than 250 per cent year ­over year. Sales are 4x what they were last year." The Indian unit of the world's largest consumer marketplace has been adding products at a rate of 40,000 per day this year with 90 per cent of sellers using its logistics and warehousing services. "As a result, we've tripled our fulfillment capacity       year ­over­ year. So we are very encouraged, and continue to invest there very heavily," Olsavsky said.

A month ago, the company injected Rs 1,237 crore into Amazon Seller Services Pvt, the biggest infusion of capital into its Indian flagship since entering the country in 2013. India is one of the fastest­ growing markets for the US online retail giant and Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos had pledged to invest $2 billion in local operations last year. Given the faster­ than ­expected expansion, that number may increase, an Amazon official has indicated. Amazon expects India to overtake Japan, Germany and the UK to become its largest overseas market besides becoming the quickest to reach $10 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in the company's history, Diego Piacentini, Senior Vice­ President for international business, told ET last week. Since India bars foreign capital in business­ to ­consumer (B2C) e-commerce, Amazon operates a marketplace for vendors to sell products to customers, as do Flipkart and Snapdeal.

The company will be looking to keep pace as investors have been pumping money into homegrown rivals such as Flipkart and Snapdeal, seeking a slice of India's burgeoning e-commerce market. This is set to rise to $60­70 billion by 2019 from $17 billion in 2014, according to a February report by The Boston Consulting Group and Retailers Association of India. Experts feel Indian Internet companies may need to chart a longer and more tortuous path to profitability though. According to a recent JP Morgan report, India will likely see consolidation among the raft of players populating particular categories as considerations of scale, better pricing power and returns intensify. This consolidation may either be natural or forced, the latter more likely facilitated by investors, it said.

"The funding spigot can spur innovation only up to a point — 'excess' capital can end up funding more expensive customer acquisition strategies, greater discounting and leading to a more elevated cost structure," Viju George wrote in the JP Morgan report. India's aggressive e-commerce companies have been trying to outdo each other in big ­ticket fundraising. In July, Flipkart raised $700 million from a clutch of foreign investors, pegging the Bengaluru ­based company's valuation at $15 billion and making it one of the hottest global start-ups in recent years.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Reference -

• ET

China makes another aggressive monetary policy move

China's Central Bank cut interest rates for the sixth time since November on Friday, and it again lowered the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves in another attempt to jump-start a slowing economy.

China's monetary policy easing is at its most aggressive since the 2008/09 global financial crisis, underscoring concerns within Beijing about the health of the world's second­ largest economy.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website that it was lowering the one ­year benchmark bank lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent, effective from Oct. 24. "The People's Bank has delivered another jolt of stimulus," analysts at Capital Economics said in a note to clients, but added that they were "still waiting for clear evidence of an economic turnaround". 

"We are retaining our forecast that benchmark rates and the reserve requirement ratio will both be cut once more before the end of the year, with a further move in both early in 2016." Sobering economic data in the third quarter has demonstrated the daunting challenges faced by the country's leaders, not least in attaining the 7 per cent growth target set by the government. Data released on Monday showed China's economy grew 6.9 per cent between July and September from a year earlier, dipping below 7 per cent for the first time since the global financial crisis. 

The one ­year benchmark deposit rate was lowered by 25 basis points to 1.50 per cent. The RRR will also be cut by 50 basis points for all banks, taking the ratio to 17.5 per cent for the country's biggest lenders, the PBOC said in a statement. Buoyed by China's easing, which came late in the evening in Asia, European shares turned higher and the Chinese offshore yuan fell against the US dollar. The pan-­European FTS Eurofirst 300 extended gains to trade 2.2 per cent higher at 1,493.60, with miners jumping 2.9 percent in the minutes after the move. China's offshore yuan hit a four­ week low of 6.3958 to the dollar after the decision.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Reference - 

• ET

If only a chip can bring such a big change in the Rural area!

A tiny chip designed in Bengaluru, the size of a postage stamp, might hold the answer to connecting India's rural population to the Internet, an ambitious goal being chased by the likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

The chip, called Pruthvi, powers a system which can use television White Space — or wasted spectrum bandwidth — to beam Internet to scores of households. This innovation by Saankhya Labs, is important in today's India, where on one hand the government is pushing its ambitious 'Digital India' programme and on the other, large technology companies are working on similar goals.
"World over regulatory authorities are using or planning to use this spectrum for their respective connectivity programmes. India can take the lead in both technology and the markets for TV White Space-based broadband delivery.

And how long can the government not push the envelope... It's got to be expedited sooner than later," said Parag Naik, CEO and Co-founder of Saankhya Labs.

Founded in 2007 by Naik, Hemant Mallapur and Vishwakumara Kayargadde, the company has developed a system called Meghdoot, powered by its Pruthvi chip, which can utilise the existing TV White Space bandwidth available in India to provide wireless broadband to remote areas. TV White Space refers to the unused spectrum between active TV channels that are traditionally used for over-the-air transmission using TV towers and rooftop antennas. In India, this mainly refers to the spectrum used by the likes of Prasar Bharti.

The Meghdoot product family consists of a base station and user-side modem that can together provide Wireless Rural Broadband using the TV White Space spectrum from 400 to 800MHz.

The technology does not require line-of-sight, thus ensuring longer range, and can serve up to a radius of 10-15 km depending on antenna tower height and transmit power. The range can also be further increased with more powerful and taller antennas.


The company is soon set to conduct field trials across the country in collaboration with IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and IIT-Hyderabad. They are also in discussions with Microsoft to do trials at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh.

The Meghdoot product line is compliant to the Wi-FAR standard, making the device compatible for use in other countries too. The company is also engaged with partners for trials in the Philippines, the US and Singapore.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Reference -

• ET

GOI makes changes in Indirect tax rates

Government of India has made the following changes in indirect tax rates, effective from 19th October, 2015:

1) In view of the continued fall in international prices of wheat and the anticipated adverse impact of increased imports during the first half of this financial year, basic customs duty on wheat has been increased from 10% to 25% for a period upto 31.03.2016. Notification No.51/2015 ­Customs, dated 19.10.2015 may be referred to in this regard.

2) Specified biodiesel is exempt from central excise duty. However, its inputs namely, RBD Palm Stearin, Methanol and Sodium Methoxide are chargeable to central excise duty leading to CENVAT credit accumulation. Central excise duty has been exempted on RBD Palm Stearin, Methanol and Sodium Methoxide used in the manufacture of such biodiesel subject to actual user condition for a period upto 31.03.2016. Notification No.42/2015­ Central Excise, dated 19.10.2015 may be referred to in this regard.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

CBDT working towards making AO-taxpayer communication hassle-free through email

Use of email based communication for paperless Assessment Proceedings-reg.

F. No. 225/267/2015-ITA-II
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES
NEW DELHI

Dated: October 19, 2015

To

The Principal Chief Commissioners of Income-tax, Delhi / Mumbai / Bengaluru / Ahmedabad / Chennai

Subject: Use of email based communication for paperless Assessment Proceedings-reg.

1. In order to improve the taxpayer services, enhance the efficiency and to usher in a paperless environment for carrying out the assessment proceedings, CBDT has decided to initiate the concept of using email for corresponding with taxpayers and sending through emails the questionnaires, notice etc. at the time of scrutiny proceedings and getting responses from them using the same medium on a pilot basis. This would eliminate the necessity of visiting the Income-tax Offices by the taxpayers, particularly in smaller cases, involving limited issues and where taxpayer is able to provide details required by the AO without necessitating his physical presence.
2. Steps are being taken by CBDT to devise suitable mechanism for setting up a standardized platform for making such email based communications between the taxpayer and the Income-tax Department seamless and user friendly. To start with, it has been decided to launch a pilot project in this regard in five non-corporate charges at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad & Chennai stations. Initially, 100 cases for e-hearing could be identified in each of these charges and major part of assessment processing should be conducted in electronic mode. Also, the cases covered under the aforesaid pilot project should be those which have been selected for scrutiny on the basis of AIR/CIB information or non-matching with 26AS-data. Consent of taxpayers should also be obtained in the beginning and cases of only willing taxpayers be considered under the pilot project. The officers of the Department, through their official e-mail IDs, can interact with the taxpayers at their e-mail IDs as mentioned in the respective returns of income.
3. Board desires that necessary steps may accordingly be taken for initiating the pilot project on top priority.

(Rohit Garg)

Deputy Secretary to the Government of India.

- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Wal­mart suspected to have paid millions of dollars in bribes in India!

America's multinational retail corporation Wal­Mart is suspected to have paid bribes worth millions of dollars in India, according to a media report. In a major report, The Wall Street Journal said Wal­Mart's "suspected bribery" unearthed in India involves thousands of small payments to low ­level local officials to help move goods through customs or obtain real ­estate permits.

 "The vast majority of the suspicious payments were less than USD 200, and some were as low as USD 5, the people said, but when added together they totalled millions of dollars," the daily said. In 2013, Wal­Mart shelved plans to open retail stores in India by severing a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises Ltd and instead decided to become solely a wholesaler there, the report said. Walmart, who was pushing the previous UPA regime for opening of the multi-­brand retail sector was also involved in lobbying before the US Congress in this regard, Congressional disclosure reports have said in the past few years. According to the report, Wal­Mart's massive bribery efforts is unlikely to bring in any penalty on it as its Indian operation does not yield any profit under the provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of the United States. "Because penalties under the FCPA are often connected to the amount of profit the alleged misconduct generated, the payments in India wouldn't be likely to result in any sizable penalty, since Wal­Mart's operations there haven't been particularly profitable, said people familiar with the matter," the daily reported. There was no immediate response from Wal­Mart's corporate headquarters here on the Wall Street Journal's report on its bribery in India. According to The Wall Street Journal, federal investigators "found evidence of bribery in India, centering on widespread but relatively small payments made to local officials there," during the course of its "high ­profile federal probe" into allegations of widespread corruption at Wal­Mart Stores Inc's operations in Mexico. The investigations though have found little in the way of major offenses in Mexico, and is likely to result in a much smaller case than investigators first expected, the daily said.

- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Reference -

• ET

ED unearths another money laundering case

The enforcement directorate has unearthed yet another trade-based money laundering case worth over Rs 550 crore perpetrated by allegedly using banking channels of nine major national and international banks, with illegal remittances being sent to Hong Kong and China.

The agency has also arrested a Ghaziabad-based foreign exchange operator for sending these illegal remittances to these foreign locations.

The case was busted after the agency got leads from an accused in the Bank of Baroda money laundering case, where suspicious remittances of an estimated Rs 6,000 crore came to light recently and which is being probed by multiple agencies including CBI, SFIO, Income Tax department and the ED.

A fresh FIR has been lodged in connection with this case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED has arrested Manish Jain, operating a forex firm in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, last night for allegedly depositing and remitting Rs 505 crore between 2006 and 2010 from the Rajpur branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) in an illegal manner against imports that “never took place.”

These remittances made through 66 accounts in the said OBC branch, the ED said, were subsequently sent to an HSBC bank branch in Hong Kong and then to China in return for settling dues of various importers in India with Chinese suppliers.

On the agency’s trade-based money laundering radar, where accused traders evade customs duties and taxes to generate slush funds, are seven other banks in the national capital region like ING Vysya, ICICI, Kotak Mahindra, Indusind, Dhanlaxmi bank, YES bank and DCB bank which the agency believes have been “misused” by Jain and others to perpetrate this fraud.

Sources said Jain runs two firms dealing in foreign exchange in Hong Kong and he used at least 11 “bogus firms” to send out a total of Rs 557 crore during the said period.

The ED suspects that Jain used these “unaccounted” funds to create tainted assets for himself and his associates by using fake or dummy identities and documents thereby misusing the Indian banking channels and RBI guidelines.

“The latest case bears resemblance to the Bank of Baroda case and the agency got leads about Jain and his operations on the basis of the questioning of Sanjay Aggarwal who is already under arrest in the BoB case,” ED sources said.

In the BoB case, the agency had arrested Kamal Kalra, working with the foreign exchange division of HDFC bank, Chandan Bhatia, Gurucharan Singh Dhawan and Sanjay Aggarwal. The ED had alleged that these accused, acting as middlemen for these illegal acts, worked for at least 15 fake companies out of the total 59 which were involved in the crime also being probed by the CBI.

The agency said Jain used to run the Ghaziabad-based forex firm between 2006 and 2014 which was later operated by Aggarwal between 2014-15.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Reference -

1. http://www.livemint.com/Politics/FXL8lnX8Qm9ht9MHW4I75L/ED-unearths-another-BoBlike-case-involving-8-banks-HSBC-HK.html

Aadhar linked cellphone and IRIS are going to revolutionize India

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A REVOLUTION

IN FINANCIAL MARKET

WHICH NEVER HAPPENED IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND

Recently, Mr. Nandan Nilekani, a founder team member of Infosys and generator of the concept of Aadhar made one presentation of the impact this Aadhar linked cell phone will create and revolutionize the market in general and finance market in particular in India / world is a worth watching clip. I think the presentation of those 30 minutes will make you spell bound and speechless. How the technology is going to change the way we live in this world since the decades.... Major highlights of the presentation are as under.

1. There will be a massive disruption in financial services on back of technology revolution.

2. The telecom revolution has changed the desktop based environment to mobile interned based environment.

3. “WhatsApp movement” is the concept to understand this revolution because today 30 billion messages in a day are passed through WhatsApp in the world surpassing the SMS by large margin. This WhatsApp movement like revolution is going to take place in the world of finance making the concept of traditional banking and lending to go away.

4. We are moving from cash based society to cashless and digital society very very fast. Today India has more 900 million mobile users (More than 90 crores) which is a record in itself. The Aadhar when linked with the mobile set with IRIS authentication on will change the world we live in.

5. Today electronic clearing service NEFT-RTGS and IMPS have overtaken traditional payment system. With these 900 million mobile users, a mega trend is underway, which we are unable to apprehend. To put it in simple words, every mobile user will be an ATM.

6. When IRIS authentication (Biometric authentication linked with Aadhar server) will be on, the 900 million mobile users will be able to have online kyc, online authentication, online payment and online receipt on the basis of Unified Payment Interface (UPI). Smart phone will replace all type of debit and credit cards and Paytm like system will be fully operational. Physical cash to digital cash and digital cash to physical cash convertibility will be a game changer. Digital wallet and digital locker will revolutionize the security system. Enabling pear to pear payment system will do away many intermediaries and will be reimagining the infrastructure we have at present.

7. The whole process will lead to explosion of innovation, death of many businesses and birth of new ventures and business. India will become data scare to data rich country in five years in both, on consumer and business side. Credit process and credit appraisal will become obsolete and online loan payment will become possible. Think of 900 million people coming on one platform and remain connected!!! Almost all functions of the bank, government and taxation department will be done by Aadhar linked phones. This is even more important in the sense that IRIS authentication on cell phone is available only in India, no one has this system in the world!!!

8. Friends, this is not far away because the IRIS authentication on cell phone is practically started and will become a mass reality soon. So prepare yourself to live in the digitalized India with absolute transparency, no paper work, no bureaucratic intervention, no tax terrorism and much much more.

Watch "Disruption in Financial Services: Nandan Nilekani at TiE LeapFrog" on YouTube - https://youtu.be/aGM5TvAUF00

- CA Kasliwal Ambar

The Great Indian E-Commerce Liftoff

There's no better time for a bargain - India's three biggest online market places touted discounts of as much as 80% as they launched a festive season shopping campaign amid a blitz of advertising. But the enthusiasm of early birds was dampened somewhat -there were few eye-popping deals on the latest gadgets and fashion brands on the first day on Flipkart or Amazon India. But brands were relieved that their efforts to rein in price cuts had worked, confirming the trend of ecommerce firms moving away from extravagant discounts. Instead they are focussing on better financials. Still, deep discounts were available on online-only and ecommerce-focused products such as those made by Micromax, Onida, BPL and Motorola, and on older models of gadgets and smartphones, said industry executives. A similar trend has been seen in apparel and accessories.

This marked a sharp departure from last year, when the latest models of iPhone, Samsung Galaxy phones and Sony televisions were on sale. The ecommerce companies offered maximum discounts on their in-house apparel brands where margins are twice that of other clothing.“None of our fresh merchandise is on discount except old or last-season stock,“ said J Suresh, chief executive of Arvind Lifestyle Brands, which sells brands such as Gap, US Polo, Wrangler and Calvin Klein.

Conservative Approach

He said companies were more conservative this year, ordering about 1.2 times the normal stock for the discount period unlike last year when they were targeting to grow sales by five times. “The focus is surely on margins and profitability,“ Suresh said.

The chief of a leading shoe brand said deep discounting of 60-80%, which is usually offered during endof-season sales by the ecommerce firms, was missing on the first day.“The madness was not there and even I was expecting good deals on international brands for my person al purchase where discounts were hardly 4-10%,“ he said, requesting anonymity.

The absence of deep discounts on the hottest items is good news for brick and mortar retailers, who have been suffering on account of lower prices online.

Panasonic India managing director Manish Sharma, who is also president of the consumer electronics lobby group, said all big brands had advanced their Diwali promotional offers in the offline trade to boost consumer sentiment and offer a level playing field.

“The e-commerce marketplaces too are in a consolidation mode and have realised it may not be healthy to continue to burn money on discounts. This year's online Diwali sales is a healthy sign and will ensure both online and offline will coexist,“ Sharma said.

Haier India president Eric Braganza said the company had signed pricing agreements with ecommerce marketplaces such as Flipkart to ensures that there would be no sharp price cuts on its products.

Amazon and Flipkart started their festive season sales on Tuesday while Snapdeal kicked things off on Monday. Discounts were attractive on online-exclusive smartphone brands such as Motorola, Xiaomi, Yu Yuphoria and OnePlus 2. Price cuts were also offered on baby products, general merchandise, home décor and personal care products. The sale will carry on until the end of the week. Flipkart said there had been a surge in app downloads in anticipation of the sale.

“It's great to see 1.6 million app installs in the last two days, which is a great indicator that India has been preparing well for The Big Billion Days,“ said Mukesh Bansal, head of commerce platform at Flipkart.

The sale was off to a relatively glitch-free start. Flipkart, which was hit by glitches last year owing to heavy traffic, has staggered its apponly discounted sales over five days, across various categories such as fashion, home appliances, electronics and books.

The Big Etailing Rivalry

After Flipkart announced the October13-17 campaign, Amazon and Snapdeal announced similar exercises--a point that a company executive brought up.

“Random thought: Checked out TOI. Looks like we set the dates for when others do their festival sales :)! Go BBD!,“ Flipkart Chief Product Officer Punit Soni tweeted.

Rohit Bansal, Co-founder of Snapdeal, tweeted: “Looks like India has chosen @snapdeal as the app of their choice this festive season!“ Flipkart said it “saw 25 items sold per second.“ The company said 10 lakh products were sold in the first 10 hours with 6 million visits from across the country.

“This is pushing the limits, the volumes are much higher than last year,“ said Naman Sarawagi, Co-founder and CEO of FindYogi, a chat-based shopping assistance app. A clearer picture is likely to emerge when the sale concludes later this week.

Snapdeal said that it sold five mobile phones every second on Monday as it racked up total sales of $100 million. “Compared to last year, the infrastructure has greatly improved,“ said Sarawagi.

Amazon India claimed that the first day of the festive sales was the biggest day in its history, four times bigger than the peak of last Diwali.Traffic from mobile was over 70% and lakhs of new customers came from cities like Aurangabad, Malappuram, Dhanbad, Kannur, Tiruchirappalli, Jamshedpur and others.Small and medium sellers reported up to ten times more sales than their daily sales. Grocery & gourmet witnessed a three times growth in unit terms as compared to our previous biggest day and five times compared to the pre-sale period. “We have seen an enthusiastic and energetic response from our customers through the year and in all our promotions including the first day of our Great Indian Festive Sale today,“ an Amazon India spokesperson said.

Ambulance On Standby

Most visitors were from cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai. Ludhiana, Lucknow and Bhopal were among the top cities from non-metros, said Flipkart, where employees have been working round the clock to keep systems stable. Flipkart set up shuttle services for employees to be picked up and dropped and even put an ambulance and masseurs on standby.

"With over 20 million visits from across the country on the first day, the fashion sale has been a big hit amongst our customers. For electronics - it will be even bigger on 15th October as we have lined up a range of smartphone launches for our customers from brands like Google, Motorola, Huawei, Intex and Micromax. All these new launches will have aggressive launch and exchange offers along with exciting bank discounts," a Flipkart spokesperson said.

Nearly 1.5 million shoppers bought goods worth over $100 million from Flipkart during the sale in 2014 but the site stuttered as a large number of people sought to access the site. This year's Billion Days sale is expected to be five times in size, according to one Flipkart employee who requested anonymity.

Meanwhile, good discounts were available on older iPhones and iPads besides LED television models of LG and some apparel brands.

- CA Kasliwal Ambar

New Reward Scheme to catch Duty Evasion

The Government has framed a system of rewards for people who help in the detection of the tax evasion. The following are a few guidelines for the people who like to help detection of Central Excise Duty evasion/frauds:


Under the existing Reward Scheme, Government of India grants handsome rewards to informers who provide specific information leading to seizure of goods, currency, bullion or leads to detection of duty evasion including wrong declaration of quantity, description, value etc.

The information should contain details of modus operandi being adopted by the tax evader. Details like name & address of the firm, addresses of the key persons, place where records of clandestine clearances are secreted, details of flow of illegal funds are considered important piece of information.

Your name and identity will be kept absolutely confidential.

- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Do Last Minute Bookings help you save money?

The early birds may not get to fly cheaper any more. Airlines seem to be reducing fares closer to the travel date, an analysis of tickets on offer for travel on six key sectors showed. The fares quoted for travel on October 17 were more expensive when booked 30 days in advance than 10 days.

These select trunk routes have seen capacity addition by airlines in recent times.

"With the added capacity on the top metro routes, and lower load factors in the first half of October compared to last year, airlines have reduced fares closer in to get more people to fly," said Amit Taneja, chief revenue officer at online travel portal Cleartrip.

The lower fares benefit customers and airlines are also seeing higher overall revenue as the lower fuel prices enable them to operate profitably even at low fares, said Taneja.

About 63 flights operate from Delhi to Mumbai and vice versa. Other city pairs like Bengaluru-Mumbai and Mumbai-Hyderabad have 32 and 21 daily direct flights, respectively, and many more flights with stopovers. Pune and Chennai and Kolkata-Bengaluru have seven and 12 flights, respectively.

Airlines added about 18% seats this year, in sync with over 20% growth in passengers that the domestic market registered between January and August. In all, airlines offer about 300,000 seats on domestic sectors.
Another industry watcher said the airlines are reducing fares closer to the departure due to lower bookings. "The reason we are not seeing a lot of advance bookings is because people are spending less. Less expenditure by people is due to the economic situation, which is not in the best of health," said Ajay Prakash, former president of Travel Agents Federation of India and a travel agent.

Prakash said the demand for advance bookings is still not high despite airlines offering lower fares on the back of cheaper fuel. The airlines are also offering cheaper last-minute fares, as much as 47% lower than that last year over the recent long weekends.


When it comes to airfares, dynamic pricing seems to be an evolving concept. What's required is transparency, so that consumers know when to avail the best rates. A rule of thumb used to be to book six weeks ahead and avoid weekend schedules.

That may have run its course. One no-frills carrier wants passengers to purchase tickets three months in advance for the lowest fares. The way ahead is to better match vacant seats with demand for more attractive fares. It pays to repeatedly check and compare fares online.

-- CA Kasliwal Ambar

Avoiding complaints from your clients' may affect your firms reputation.

Dear Friends,

Research shows that as many as 66% of disgruntled clients' will most likely choose not to work with you again, for a faulty solution or experienced bad service. (Source : Google)

Here are seven ways to avoid losing clients — and save your reputation.

Tip #1 : Show that you care

Listen to what your client has to say to determine the problem and offer a quick resolution. It's important to stay professional and avoid getting emotional, but it's equally important to show your human side and demonstrate that the client is not just another number for you.

Just in case you need numbers to actually care: A 2014 study suggests that a completely satisfied client contributes 14 times as much revenue as a somewhat dissatisfied one (Source : Google)

Tip #2 : Throw away template answers

You should take a one-on-one approach for every aspect of your communication with your client. Generic copy-paste emails won’t do. Your voice and professional opinions need to be heard and, most importantly, you need to match them to your client's situation and to the solution you are providing.

Show your client a personalized approach and try to put yourself in your clients' shoes before you answer. Research suggests that more than 55% of your clients will be willing to pay more for better client service. And better means more individualized and personalized attention. (Source : Google)

Tip #3 : Avoid lengthy discussions

Try to focus on facts and don't get yourself dragged into disputes over who's right and what's right.

Proving your point will not get you any extra client love. Your clients – even those most upset – expect to be listened to, encouraged that their issue will be taken care of, and offered a resolution.

In a typical business, 42% of client service agents are unable to efficiently resolve customer issues due to disconnected systems, archaic user interfaces and age-old methods. (Source : Google)

Don’t close yourself off in a golden cage of old structures. Take the road less travelled.

Tip #4 : Offer a fast and effective solution
Unhappy clients will keep contacting you until you resolve their problem and make sure that help is coming. It's important for you to offer quick and reliable assistance. At the same time, you need to be realistic and not over-promise.

2012 research indicates that 33% of clients would recommend someone that provides a quick response, even if that response is ineffective. (Source : Google). This speaks about the need of time-efficient response to your client’s needs.

As long as you stick to the facts, you will gain clients' gratitude for responsibly handling their issues. You already have the skill set and experience to make the best possible short-term solution in a short amount of time. Be honest with your client about their options.

Tip #5 : Don't let the issue escalate

Finding a solution may take some consultations and follow-up, but remember that in the world we live in today, clients(especially those disgruntled ones) count on fast resolution. If they don't get it, they'll go on Facebook or Twitter to voice their frustration. Don't ignore any complaint; deliver what you promised and don't let the issue escalate to the point where it causes your firm, a loss of reputation.

Nowadays, your client is twice as likely to post a negative review about your client relationship as opposed to a positive one, and they are four times more likely to switch to the competition if they are dissatisfied with the service.

This is not to say you have to seal any issue that might have presented itself and never speak of it in public. When it comes to issue resolution, think fast and act faster. But don’t be afraid to give a creative apology if your client has been damaged by the issue.

Tip #6 : Train your staff so they can do their job right

This one is well-meant advice for those of you who employ more than just yourself in your client relationships. Your client service personnel are always out there on the battlefield, handling debates with unhappy clients and trying to put-out fires. Make sure they have all the support they need to assist and support others.

Share with them the company's values and guidelines so that they are never surprised by a question from a client; collect feedback from clients and try to improve your services as much as possible; show your staff what is doable and what is not doable when handling complaints; invest in brainstorming and training sessions so that they can provide top quality service. Don't be shy to include new market solutions that will save them time and effort.

Tip #7: Minimize negative reviews

Negative reviews can be very costly for your business. Show your clients you are ready to listen to their complaints before they go and rage about your service.

Resolve their problem fast and effectively by providing client service by phone, mail, skype etc. Your clients will reward you by staying with you — instead of choosing another professional.

-CA Kasliwal Ambar