New Delhi, May 7
With barely a few days left before the next government takes over, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today issued an air operators’ permit to AirAsia India — the joint venture between AirAsia and Tata Group, bringing the nascent airline closer to starting its operations in India.

AirAsia India CEO Mittu Chandilya posted a picture on his twitter page with the air operators’ permit in hand.

“What a battle that was. Proud day for me and all AirAsia stars that have received the air operator's permit. Boom! 1815hrs (IST) today AirAsiaIndia was born. So proud of my team. Who is ready to revolutionise air travel in India,” he tweeted.

Sources say the airline has been granted the licence for one year within which it will start operations with a fleet of five aircraft. After a year, the licence will be renewed for the next four years.

They say the approval to AirAsia India will be subjected to future directions by the Delhi High Court. The decision is also expected to earn the ire of BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy, who has petitioned against it in the High Court and the Election Commission.

It has been a long-drawn battle for the venture, which has faced many roadblocks since its inception.

Fearing competition and lower profits, private airlines have been arguing against the new airlines. They say a September 2012 policy change allowing foreign airlines to invest in local airlines was applicable only to the existing airlines and not new ones. However, the DGCA had dismissed their demand objecting to granting of a licence to the new airline.

Following this, Swamy and the Federation of Indian Airlines filed two separate petitions challenging the approvals granted to the Tata-Airasia and Tata-SIA Airlines deals, respectively. The court had on May 1 decided to constitute a special Bench to hear pleas seeking quashing of approvals being granted by the Centre to operationalise the $30-million AirAsia deal.

Then on May 5, Swamy urged the EC to restrain the DGCA from giving flying licences to proposed carriers AirAsia India and Tata-SIA Airlines till a new government took over.

"My information is that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is unaware of the principle laid down by the EC in enforcing the model code, that is, no administrative or policy decision impacting the benefits accruable to any section of society should not be cleared, if there is no operational urgency in the matter," he said.

He claimed he had information that the DGCA "appears hell bent on issuing the airline operators' permit to these two joint ventures", even though the Delhi High Court was in “an advanced stage” on the matter.

AirAsia India is a joint venture between Tata Sons, Malaysia-based AirAsia and infrastructure firm Telstra Trade while Tata-SIA Airlines Ltd is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA).

New Delhi, May 7
In a move that could potentially alter the dynamics of the loan market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today directed banks not to levy penalty on pre-payment of floating rate loans.

While all types of loans are covered under this, experts said this move could have a big impact on car loans.

Harsh Roongta, CEO, Apnapaisa, said now, the car loan industry could follow a floating rate structure. However, he said it was not clear whether the RBI circular applies to existing loans or new loans written from now on.

Roongta says the personal loan market, which is the other big fixed rate market, may not be affected as personal loans falls under the lower-duration loan category, where pre-payment is not as common as in case of car loans.

The loans against property market will be affected, but it is currently not a large market. Education loans already are pre-dominantly without pre-payment charges.

“It is advised that banks will not be permitted to charge foreclosure charges or pre-payment penalties on all floating rate term loans sanctioned to individual borrowers, with immediate effect," the RBI said today.

Floating loan products include housing, corporate, vehicle and personal loans. In the first bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2014-15 released last month, the RBI had said banks should consider allowing their borrowers the facility of prepaying floating rate term loans without any penalty in the interest of their customers.

Two years ago, the RBI barred banks from levying foreclosure charges or pre-payment penalties on home loans on floating interest rate basis.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in his monetary policy review had announced several measures for consumer protection. Instead of levying penalty for non-maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings bank accounts, the RBI had asked banks to limit services available on such accounts and restore the services when the balances improve to the minimum required level.

The RBI had said banks should not levy charges for non-maintenance of minimum balances in any inoperative account. Banks should also limit the liability of customers in e-banking transactions in cases, where banks are not able to prove customer negligence.

Roongta said most car loans are on a fixed rate (the SBI is the only major player offering loans at floating rates, however it does not charge pre-payment charge) with a hefty pre-payment charge (around 5.63%) . He said the move would set a trend towards floating rate car loans, which could change dynamics of the industry.

New Delhi, May 7
Samsung Electronics today launched the world's first curved Ultra High Definition (UHD) or 4K televisions in India at a starting price of Rs 3,29,900.

The TVs were first unveiled during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, earlier this year.

In the HU9000 series, 65-inch and 55-inch curved UHD TVs have been priced at Rs 4,49,900 and Rs 3,29,900, respectively.

The company said the 105-inch UHD curved TV would be available in the second half of the year, but its pricing had not been declared yet.

SK Kim, managing director, sales, Samsung India, said, “With the launch of the world's first curved UHD TV, Samsung is blending its innovative curved form factor with its UHD TV technology.” 

New Delhi, May 7
Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL), which provides telecom services under the brand name MTS, today said that it had sought the government's approval to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the telecommunications carrier beyond 74%.

The move comes after the government last year allowed foreign companies to fully own local telecommunications carriers, removing an earlier cap of 74%. But any stake increase beyond 49% in the telecom sector needs prior government approval.

Sistema and the Russian government together own nearly 74% in the unlisted Sistema Shyam joint venture, while India’s Shyam Group has a 24% stake. The rest is owned by individual Indian investors.

Reports say the Sistema Shyam's application filed in March with the foreign investment regulator seeks the approval for conversion of preference shares in the company held by a Sistema unit into equity shares.

New Delhi, May 7
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has extended the last date to May 19 for receiving comments on a consultation paper for fixing minimum download speed for telecom operators to deliver wireless data services.

The wireless data services include mobile internet and broadband services such as 2G, 3G and those offered using dongles. “Requests have been received from stakeholders for the extension of time for sending their comments. In view of the importance of the issue, the authority has decided to extend the last date for submission of written comments to May 19 and counter-comments to May 26,” TRAI said.

TRAI had sought public views on the consultation by May 5 and counter comments on it by May 12.“The authority has been receiving many complaints from consumers regarding the poor download speed. After examining the issue, it felt that there is a need to mandate the ‘minimum download speed’ for the wireless data services,” TRAI had said. — TNS