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Banks in the dock for delay in crediting cheques
India, Nepal plan power projects
PNB to fund HP projects
Haryana nod to 23 units
AVIATION NOTES
INVESTOR GUIDANCE |
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Banks in the dock for delay in crediting cheques
New Delhi, August 26 Taking serious view of the alleged violation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines by both public and private sector banks on fast clearance of payments through cheques, the National Consumer Disputes Resolution Commission issued notices all 88 banks, including the foreign ones, operating in the country seeking their replies. A Division Bench of the Commission, comprising Chairman Mr Justice M B Shah, a former Supreme Court Judge, and member P.D. Shenoy took cognisance of a joint complaint by former Punjab Additional Advocate General Atul Nada and lawyer Rameeza Hakeem yesterday on the issue of denial of interest to the account holders. They sought a direction for payment of interest to the consumer in “Class Action Litigation” which deals with issuance of specific direction by the Commission for providing relief to the consumers if they were denied of the rightful service by a service provider. The Commission also issued notice to the RBI, directing it to place on record its affidavit and detailed guidelines on banking transaction. Mr Nanda in his argument said that almost all banks were violating the Banker’s Fair Practice Code in respect of transacting consumers’ money through cheques and demand drafts and also placed on record a report of RBI in this regard. In their complaint, the two lawyers stated that the banks were not affording immediate credit facilities for the cheques of the values of Rs 15,000 and less and were also breaching specific time limit fixed by the RBI for crediting cheques. Even if there was a delay in crediting the cheques in the accounts of the holders, the customers were not being paid any interest at all for the “delayed period”, the complaint said, adding under the law, a consumer has a right to claim interest for the delay caused in transaction of the money by the banks involved. “Due to this delay, account holders’ money worth several thousands of crore rupees was placed as a free floating fund with the banks on which they continue to earn interest for themselves,” Nanda contended. He pointed out that in a financial year nearly 13,000 lakh cheques were transacted by 88 banks operating in India through their branches across the country.
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India, Nepal plan power projects
New Delhi, August 26 India is hopeful that with the change in regime at Kathmandu, both countries would be able to resume the trade talks, including for joint power projects in Nepal, which had remained suspended for over past two years. At the two-day meeting of India-Nepal Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) held at New Delhi, the two sides have recognised the need to promote ties in the areas of power and services sectors, information technology, tourism, education and healthcare. The Nepali delegation was led by Secretary at Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Bharat Bahadur Thapa while Indian Commerce Secretary S.N. Menon led the Indian delegation. Considering the strategic importance of its neighbour, India has proposed to negotiate a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Nepal. Despite the open nature of the border and the free trade arrangements as specified in the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Nepalese side expressed concern over India’s decision of slapping tariff and trade barriers on Nepali products. It pointed that since March 2006, India has imposed 4 per cent additional duty imposed on Nepali primary and agriculture exports. While expressing satisfaction at the growth in bilateral trade and investments during the past decade, the two sides noted that the bilateral trade treaty would be renewed in March 2007. They also decided to “explore ways to make the treaty a more effective instrument for further strengthening bilateral economic ties”. Indian Commerce Secretary S.N. Menon conveyed “India’s readiness to work with Nepal to expeditiously address Nepal’s concerns on non-tariff measures”. The date has not been specified as yet. Indian side has demanded detailed list and categorisation as well as proper national standardisation of Nepali products.
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PNB to fund HP projects
Shimla, August 26 Stating this here today, the Zonal Manager of PNB, Mr K.I. Singh, said power was one of the most important sector and there was a potential of harnessing 20,000 MW from the state. Mr Singh also informed that PNB was keen to provide credit to the vital sectors of agriculture and tourism. He said the bank was emphasising on financing units under the small- scale industry and specialised branches at Kala Amb, Parwanoo, Mehatpur, Nalagarh and Damtal had been set up.
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Haryana nod to 23 units
Chandigarh, August 26 Mr P.K. Chaudhery, Financial Commissioner, Industries and Commerce, said the projects, when implemented, would catalyse an investment of Rs 1,211 crore, besides providing employment to more than 3,000 persons. Allotments have been made in Gurgaon (Pace City, Sector 37), Faridabad (Sector 58), Panipat (Sector 29, Part-II) developed by HUDA as well as at the growth centres at Bawal and Rai developed by HSIIDC. |
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PIL filed on chaos at Delhi airport
by K.R. Wadhwaney The Delhi airport privatisation plan has lost the takeoff plot as internal bickerings continue. The GMR-owned Delhi Airport International Private Limited (DIAPL) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) continue to stay on different wavelengths resulting in confusion and chaos. Flights are inordinately delayed; passengers are subjected to harassment. The situation has further deteriorated following Heathrow Airport’s call of blowing up aircraft mid-air. Probe has been on but no concrete evidence against anyone has emerged so far. Amidst unprecedented situation obtaining at Delhi Airport, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court. According to the PIL: “Flying into or out of Delhi has become a living nightmare for passengers, as it is an exasperating wait for them on the ground and in the air before flights get clearance from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to land or takeoff. Delays have become a norm during morning and evening peak hours”. The Civil Aviation Ministry has mounted pressure on the private entity to speed up with a view to provide immediate relief to the passengers. But, sadly, the situation has worsened instead of improving. The trouble between ATCs and the AAI has been persisting. The ATCs maintain that they are under-staffed and underpaid. The airline officials reiterate that they are made to hover around airport without justifiable reason. Despite operation of two runways simultaneously, the congestion remains as cut down on waiting time has not been sufficient. Taking a leaf out of private players’ book, the AAI is also putting surplus land in 35 non-metro airports by developing them at an estimated cost of Rs 8,000 crore. Just as private players are here for the land and construction profitability, “we will also make effective use of surplus land to make money.” This is what senior AAI officials have gone on record as saying. The mushroom growth of airlines has not gone well with the government. “We are worried at the rate of growth”, said a senior aviation official, adding: “We have to consider restricting the entry of new players to ensure that takeoff boom becomes reality”. Whatever restrictions, there is plenty of scope for operating flights on feeder routes to improve connectivity. The new aviation policy, which has been delayed for years now, is attempting to address the idea of marginally increasing entry barriers, like, equity, so that civil aviation sustains instead of collapsing. As it is, many no-frills airline operators are feeling the heat. The sky is hazy, if not turbulent. Punjab’s theme song of providing new look to aviation and tourism sectors will receive a shot in arm as Minister of State for Tourism, Ambika Soni, inaugurates the international summit at Delhi on Monday, August 28. Many eminent aviation ad tourism personalities will share their views for developing the northern India region as an Integrated Aviation and Tourism Hub.
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NRI can sell Indian property through power of attorney by A.N. Shanbhag Q: I am selling my property (flat) in India which I had brought in 2001. Now to save the capitals gain tax (Long-Term Capital Gain) I will like to lock my gain in NABARD bonds. So can I use my power of attorney (my dad) to sell my flat and buy the NABARD bonds? Also will I require PAN number for either selling my property or buying NABARD bonds as I do not have the PAN number as I am an NRI living in the USA from 1997?— Bhargav A: Yes, your dad can use the power of attorney (PA) to sell the property and also to buy the Bonds provided the PA authorises him to do so. The tax on all long-term capital gains which are chargeable to tax, can be saved by investing within 6 months the amount of capital gains in infrastructure-related Bonds of NHAI or REC u/s 54 EC. From 1.4.06, NABARD, NHB and SIDBI Bonds have been taken off the shelf. Normally PAN is required; however some organisations accept Form-60 instead of PAN. Check with the organisations concerned. If you bring down your tax liability to nil level, you are not required to file the returns. However, one problem. The buyer is required to deduct tax at source from you as per the provisions of the Act. It appears that there is no way other than filing tax returns to claim the refund of TDS. PPF account Q: Sometime back I remember to have read your advice to the readers to open PPF account in the names of every family member and contribute to these accounts. I take that the contributions to these accounts would amount to 'gift' to the member. I am afraid, in the case of the wife, a problem may crop and she may need to ascertain the exact share contributed by her husband over a period of time to the PPF account, if she has also contributed partly to the account out of her own earnings. Also, I am not clear about the tax implications on the income derived on the funds received by the wife on maturity, or on partial withdrawal from the PPF account — whether the income earned on that part of the fund contributed by her husband and received on maturity, or on partial withdrawal, is to be again clubbed with that of the husband. It would be difficult to keep track of the contributions made by the husband over the period to ascertain the share contributed by him, and practically impossible in case of partial withdrawal. Please guide me in the matter.— Sharad Hatekar A: The interest earned by the wife on the amounts contributed to her PPF account by the husband, year to year, can be easily ascertained and clubbed to that of her husband, as required by the law; but as the interest is tax free, it will not add to the tax liability of the husband. Also interest earned on interest on the fund contributed by the husband need not be calculated separately as this forms the part of the income of the wife, and is not to be clubbed with that of the husband. The total of the amounts contributed by the husband to wife's PPF account will have to be taken at closure of the account at maturity. The interest earned in future on this total amount will have to be clubbed. On partial withdrawal, the account holder can claim that the amount withdrawn is only the interest amount and therefore clubbing is not attracted. If the amount withdrawn happens to be more than the interest earned, the computation would become complicated but it will have to be carried out. This is theory. In practice, I do not know of a single case where the husband submits himself to the clubbing provision. Almost everyone takes advantage of the period of 16 years being too long. Rebate on home loan Q: My wife and I had taken a home loan (HBL) wherein I am the co-applicant. Both of us work in different organisations. The total loan amount was Rs 15 lakh. The cost of house purchased is Rs 28 lakh which was purchased in May'06. I had put in the balance Rs 13 lakh after disposing some shares which were in my name. With respect to availing the benefits on interest and principal repayment, given our respective salary structures, I had come to the conclusion that the tax benefit should be shared between the two of us in the ratio 75:25 (75 per cent for me and remaining 25 per cent for my wife). The letter from the housing finance co. does not specify the share of the loan for either and neither does the sale deed say anything about the share. The house has been purchased in joint name. Currently, I am paying the entire amount of the EMI (from my bank account) but since she has also to avail the tax benefit, we plan to show a reimbursement to the extent of 25 per cent from her account to mine. This we propose to do by her reimbursing the entire EMI once in every four months. Kindly advise if this is the correct way to go about it?— Sangeeta Singania A: Though the house has been purchased in joint name, the share of each individual doesn't seem to have been specified. One interpretation could be that it is owned 50:50. However, this would not possibly work in respect to tax benefits, as explained later on. A way out is by having an actual sharing agreement between the parties drafted by a lawyer. This is because you will get the tax benefit in the proportion to your share in the loan. Here is an example: Cost of the apartment: Rs 100. How it is paid for: 50 per cent of your own contribution and 50 per cent by a loan.
In the above case, you will be entitled to the entire tax benefit on the loan and not your wife. In your case, since you are open to a 75:25 arrangement, you should own the house in a proportion of 6:1. The calculations would be as follows:
Therefore, you and your wife would be able to share the tax benefits on EMIs in a proportion of almost 3:1 or 75:25. The authors may be contacted at wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com
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