WITHDRAW CASH 1000/-FROM SHOPS WITH ICICI DEBIT CARD Read more: WITHDRAW CASH 1000/-FROM SHOPS WITH ICICI DEBIT CARD | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE

ICICI, on Tuesday, said its customers would be able to withdraw cash using debit cards at approved merchant establishments even if they choose not to make purchases from the particular shop.

"This facility will be available for all ICICI Bank debit cards issued in India and these debit cardholders can withdraw maximum of Rs.1,000 per day. Cash can be withdrawn with or without associated purchase transaction at an approved and enabled merchant establishment with POS (point-of-sale) terminals," the bank said in a statement here.

Currently cash withdrawal using a plastic card is available only at ATMs.ICICI is the first bank in the country to offer such a service and said the step was a way forward to increase the number of outlets for currency dispensation to enhance customer experience.RBI in his August ,2009 circular has allowed banks to allow customers to withdraw cash from Point of sale(shop) up to amount 1000/- .(read here)

Merchants too will benefit from this scheme as they can reduce the risk and cost associated with managing cash at their establishments.

Launching the facility, managing director and chief executive Chanda Kochhar said, "ICICI Bank continues to be at the forefront of offering new functionalities and convenience to customers by leveraging technology. The launch of cash withdrawals at PoS terminals will create a new mode of access to financial services, which not only enhances customer service but can also be leveraged for financial inclusion."

Read more: WITHDRAW CASH 1000/-FROM SHOPS WITH ICICI DEBIT CARD | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE

Opening of bank accounts - salaried employees-certificate from employer not enough -RBI

Opening of bank accounts - salaried employees-certificate from employer not enough -RBI

Opening of bank accounts - salaried employees

Please refer to circular UBD. No. DS. PCB. Cir. 17/13.01.00/2002-03 dated September 18, 2002 and UBD. PCB. Cir. 30/09.161.00/2004-05 dated December 15, 2004 on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards / Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) / Obligation of banks under PMLA, 2002. In Annex I to the circular of December 15, 2004 an indicative list of the nature and type of documents/ information that may be relied upon for customer identification and address verification for opening bank accounts has been given.

2. It has been brought to our notice that for opening bank accounts of salaried employees some banks rely on a certificate / letter issued by the employer as the only KYC document for the purposes of certification of identity as well as address proof. Such a practice is open to misuse and fraught with risk. It is, therefore, clarified that with a view to containing the risk of fraud, banks need to rely on such certification only from corporates and other entities of repute and should be aware of the competent authority designated by the concerned employer to issue such certificate/letter. Further, in addition to the certificate from employer, banks should insist on at least one of the officially valid documents as provided in the Prevention of Money Laundering Rules (viz. passport, driving licence, PAN Card, Voter’s Identity card etc.) or utility bills for KYC purposes for opening bank account of salaried employees of corporates and other entities.

3. These guidelines are issued under Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (AACS) and Rule 7 of Prevention of Money-Laundering (Maintenance of Records of the Nature and Value of Transactions, the Procedure and Manner of Maintaining and Time for Furnishing Information and Verification and Maintenance of Records of the Identity of the Clients of the Banking Companies, Financial Institutions and Intermediaries) Rules, 2005. Any contravention thereof or non-compliance shall attract penalties under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (AACS).

4. Please acknowlege receipt of this circular to the Regional Office concerned of the Urban Banks Department.

Yours faithfully,

(Uma Shankar)

RBI/2010-11/363
UBD. CO. BPD. No. 35/12.05.001/2010-11

January 10, 2011

The Chief Executive Officers
All Primary (urban) Co-operative Banks

NSE-BSE TRADING START FROM 9.00 AM WEF 04/01/2010

NSE-BSE TRADING START FROM 9.00 AM WEF 04/01/2010

Based on the market feedback, it has been jointly decided by NSE & BSE that the revision of market open timing to 9 am shall be effective from January 4, 2010. In the interim, the current market open timing of 9.55 am shall continue.

                                                

December 17, 2009

Change in Market timings


After extensive consultations with market participants, based on consensus it has been decided to start the market at 9.00 a.m. from Friday, December 18, 2009 and accordingly the revised market timings are as follows:


Capital Market Segment

Normal Market / Retails Debt Market / Limited Physical Market Open: 9:00 a.m.


Block Trade session shall be available from 9:00 am to 9:35 am.


Normal Market / Retails Debt Market / Limited Physical Market close time shall remain unchanged i.e. 3:30 pm


There is no change in the timings of closing session and Auction market.


Futures & Options Segment


Normal market / Exercise market open time: 9:00 a.m


Normal market close time shall remain unchanged i.e. 3:30 p.m.


There is no change in the cutoff time for set up of Position limit / Collateral value, Trade modification / Exercise market end time.
Sub : Change in Trading timings – Equity and Equity Derivatives segments - Partial modification of the BSE Notice No.20091215-8 dated December 15, 2009 and BSE Notice No.20091216-9 dated December 16, 2009.

In partial modification of the BSE Notice No.20091215-8 dated December 15, 2009 and BSE Notice No.20091216-9 dated December 16, 2009, trading Members of the exchange are hereby informed that pursuant to SEBI circular SEBI/DNPD/Cir-47/2009 dated October 23, 2009, with effect from Friday, December 18, 2009, trading in the Equity and Equity Derivatives segments will commence from 9.00 a.m. onwards, instead of the present timing of 9.55 a.m. onwards.

Consequently, the continuous trading session in both segments (Equity and Equity Derivatives) will be from 9.00 a.m. to 3.30 pm on all business days. There will be no change in timings of any other session in both the segments.

It is also clarified that the Block Deal window timings in the Equity Segment of the exchange will be from 9.00 a.m. to 9.35 a.m.

In case trading members require any clarifications, they may please contact their respective Relationship Managers

Read more: NSE-BSE TRADING START FROM 9.00 AM WEF 04/01/2010 | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE

 

Telecom users verification with Aadhaar(UID)

Telecom users verification with Aadhaar(UID)

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering a proposal by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) to bring about 700 million telecom users under an unique identification programme. The UIDAI plans to issue a 12-digit unique identity number Aadhaar to all residents, based on information such as fingerprint and iris.

To verify a single customer, operators incur between R50 and R70. A large number of customers are still not verified.

In the case of new customers, it will be very easy for operators to activate SIM cards if customers have Aadhaar. The whole process of verification and activating SIM will not take more than five minutes if the customer has Aadhaar, said Ashok Pal Singh, DDG, UIDAI.At present, it takes about two to three days for verification and activation of SIM cards.

It is too early to say what kind of relationship will be there between operators and the UIDAI. The DoT has not discussed anything with telecom operators on this issue, saidan industry representative.

Meanwhile, the DoT issued a notification on Tuesday saying that Aadhaar should be treated as a valid proof of identification for the purpose of getting new telephone connections.

it has been decided that the Aadhaar issued by the UIDAI shall be treated as valid proof of identity and proof of address for purpose of obtaining new connection, itsaid.

Read more: Telecom users verification with Aadhaar(UID) | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE

 

Bonus Shares may save Tax for You ?

Bonus Shares may save Tax for You ?

The perception of a stock is dependent upon the expected price movement of the stock and the company’s dividend payout policies, which can be in the form of cash dividends or stock dividends , commonly known as bonus issues. A company’s ability and willingness to pay steady dividends over time and its power to increase them reinstate investors’ faith in the stock.

Many a time, a company is not in a position to pay cash dividends, in spite of sufficient profits. In such a case, a bonus issue of shares is a powerful alternative. A bonus issue is also perceived by investors to be a strong signal by the company’s management of its readiness to service an enhanced shareholder base. The tax treatment of dividends and bonus issues are discussed below:

Dividend:

Cash dividend (whether interim or final) received from an Indian company is exempt from tax in the hands of the shareholder. The company paying the dividend has to pay dividend distribution tax (DDT) at the effective rate of 16.608%. Effectively, if a company has Rs 100 to distribute out of its post tax profits, the shareholders will receive a cash payout of approximately Rs 86 and the company would pay approximately Rs 14 in DDT to government.

Bonus:

In contrast, an issue of bonus shares on capitalisation of profits does not entail payment of any tax either for the company or its shareholders. When bonus shares are sold, the cost of such shares will be considered to be nil. If such bonus shares are held for more than 12 months and sold on a stock exchange, the capital gains are exempt from tax (subject to payment of securities transaction tax). If sold within the 12-month period, the capital gains are taxable at 15% (plus surcharge). The cost price of the originalshares is not adjusted pursuant to the bonus issue.

Read more: Bonus Shares may save Tax for You ? | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE

Chip Based ATM cum Debit Card Introduced Soon:RBI Working Group Read more: Chip Based ATM cum Debit Card Introduced Soon:RBI Working Group | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE

Concerned over rising incidents of cyber frauds, the RBI will soon ask banks to shift to chipbased ATM cards from the existing magnet strips ones and upgrade the currency vending machines. While pitching for chip-based cards, the report said, it is difficult to copy and make their duplicates as compared to the existing magnet strips ones.

Earlier RBI has formed a group and objective of the Working Group was to provide a set of guidelines to banks covering the entire gamut of electronic banking. This would serve as a common minimum standard for all banks to adopt as well as lay down the best practices for banks to adopt in a phased manner for a safer and sounder banking environment. The Group felt that there was a need for banks to follow a consistent approach in each focus area, to minimize differing interpretations.

Group Recommendation regarding ATM cum debit card is summarized as Under.

• Provision of various electronic banking channels like ATM/debit cards/internet banking/phone banking should be issued only at the option of the customers based on specific written or authenticated electronic requisition along with a positive acknowledgement of the terms and conditions from the customer. A customer should not be forced to opt for services in this regard. Banks should provide clear information to their customers about the risks and benefits of using e-banking delivery services to enable customers to decide on choosing such services.
• Chip based cards house data on microchips instead of magnetic stripes, making data more difficult to steal and cards more difficult to reproduce. It is recommended that RBI may consider moving over to chip based cards along with requiring upgradation of necessary infrastructure like ATMs/POS terminals in this regard in a phased manner.
• It has been observed that in a shared ATM network scenario, when the card of one bank is used to perpetrate a fraud through another bank’s ATM, there is a lack of clarity on who should report such a fraud to RBI. It is the bank acquiring the transaction that should report the fraud. The acquiring bank should solicit the help of the issuing bank in recovery of the money.

DEBIT CARD SECURITY MEASURES

1. Personalization of card, generation of card through a specific algorithm and verification of the same at switch level.
2. Delivering securely to customer after customer identification
3. Controls around activation of card.
4. Blocking of cards after certain number of attempts with wrong PINs
5. An instant SMS message is sent to the customer’s registered mobile number with the bank on usage of card at any ATM, POS or E Commerce site.

Anti-skimming Measures:

‘Card skimming’ is the illegal copying of information from the magnetic strip of a credit or ATM card. It is a more direct version of a phishing scam.The scammers try to steal a customer’s details so that they can access the relative accounts. Once scammers have skimmed the card, they can create a fake or ‘cloned’ card with details from the skimmed card on it. The scammer is then able to run up charges on your account.

There are a variety of methods that may be employed to deter card skimming.

• a. Awareness among consumers, branch personnel, and ATM service technicians can result in the detection of devices added to an ATM fascia. Visual clues such as tape residue near on a card reader may indicate the former presence of a skimming device.
• b. Any servicing in onsite ATMs by external service personnel may be done in the presence of a bank official and in respect of off-site ATMs random checks by bank officials may be conducted.
• c. All ATMs including offsite ATMs need to be manned by security guards
• d. Physically inspecting the ATMs once a day. Best practices include doing a physical inspection during maintenance or cash replacement etc. by the bank or outsourced agency managing the ATM network for the bank.
• e. Enforce standards for the appearance of ATMs. Adopt visual standards for ATMs so all ATMs should look alike.Banks can ask the customers to provide / register their mobile numbers for sending an alert message for transactions done on alternate channels.
• g. Looking for anomalous activity in customer accounts. Fraud detection software isn't foolproof, but it can detect some behaviors associated with a fraudulent transaction. Updated customer contact information is critical for quickly verifying the legitimacy of transactions or stopping fraud. Deploying fraud monitoring system especially in on-line environment may be difficult and expensive but will be useful in fraud detection and timely action.
• h. The banks may consider dynamic scoring models and related processes to trigger or alert transactions which are not normal to improve preventive/detective capability. Study of customer transaction behavioral patterns and stopping irregular transactions or getting confirmation from customers for outlier transactions may be part of the process.
• i. Network with other bank security / branch officers by participating in electronic security taskforces, or even casual cooperative agreements with other local banks, can help ensure that bank's branch managers / ATM officers are the first to know when a skimmer is targeting his area.
• j. All ATM/Debit cards by default may be payable only in India, Nepal and Bhutan and if any card holder wants to use his ATM/Debit cards abroad he should either obtain separate PIN before he leaves India or international usage may be separately activated either online or through call centre.
• k. Banks may also explore usage of biometric ATM cards to illiterate customers who may not be at ease while using ordinary ATM cards.

Further, the following anti-skimming solutions can be introduced:

Jittering: Jittering is a process that controls and varies the speed of movement of a card as it’s swiped through a card reader, making it difficult – if not impossible – to read card data by the external device.

Chip-based cards: These cards house data on microchips instead of magnetic stripes, making data difficult to be cloned. It is recommended that RBI may consider moving over to chip based cards along with upgradation of necessary infrastructure like ATMs/POS terminals in this regard in a phased manner.

PIN based authorization: For debit / credit card transactions at the POS terminals, PIN based authorization system needs to be put in place (without any looping) in place of the existing signature based system and the non-PIN based POS terminals need to be withdrawn in a phased manner.

Read more: Chip Based ATM cum Debit Card Introduced Soon:RBI Working Group | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE