This would be a 10-time growth over the 10 billion transactions achieved by the 2016-launched platform in August
Published Date – 03:00 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
Mumbai: India has the potential to do 100 billion Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions a month, a top official from the National Payments Corporation of India said on Tuesday.
This would be a 10-time growth over the 10 billion transactions achieved by the 2016-launched platform in August.
Dilip Asbe, chief executive officer and managing director of NPCI, said there are 350 million UPI users at present and pegged the growth opportunity in merchants and users at 3 times more.
“…if you take the combined effect, we have a 10x opportunity from where we stand,” Asbe said speaking at the Global Fintech Fest here.
He declined to specify a date by which NPCI aims to reach there, but said that by 2030, India will witness 2 billion transactions a day.
At present, global giant Visa processes 22.5 billion transactions a month, while its rival MasterCard does over 11 billion transactions.
Asbe also said that credit card usage can witness a ten-time growth if the industry shifts to the emerging trend of sachetisation, but was quick to add that it is possible only if banks provide the right platforms.
At present, the cost of acquisition and underwriting in credit cards are too high, which poses a challenge to the inclusion agenda, but digital and technological services can help decrease it, he said.
On the internationalisation of the UPI, Asbe said such efforts take regulatory help and by 2030, NPCI is aiming to have the right tie-ups to enable seamless payments between India and half of the top-30 markets.
The body is also in talks with Singaporean authorities to increase the single transaction limit to over SGD 5,000 from the present SGD 1,000, Asbe said.
NPCI is also aiming to evolve as a contributor to open source technology as part of a new avatar, from being a consumer of such technologies, he said.
Elaborating on the recently issued proposals to tackle the menace of financial influencers, the official said Sebi is acting keeping the future in mind and its intent is only to get into a situation if a regulated entity comes into the picture.
Published Date – 05:26 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
Mumbai: Markets regulator Sebi will introduce one-hour trade settlements by the end of this fiscal, in the run up to making such processes instantaneous, a top official said on Tuesday.
Amid concerns raised by certain foreign portfolio investors on the shortening of the settlement cycles citing forex-related worries, the official made it clear that faster settlements are optional and investors can opt out.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has adopted a roadmap towards realising its aim of making trade settlements instantaneous, the official told reporters.
“From one day to one hour to instantaneous is the roadmap,” the official said, adding one hour settlements are much quicker to implement than instantaneous.
The official said technology for one hour trade settlements already exists and the regulator is confident about the same, while the instantaneous settlements need more technology development.
At present, Sebi is thinking of rolling out the one hour trade settlement for all investors by March next year, and is looking at a time frame of 6-8 months more for the instantaneous settlements, the official said.
The Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA)-like facility for secondary markets will start by January for all investors and it will take another couple of months for the one-hour cycle to set-in after that, the official said.
Addressing investor concerns, the official said the early settlement facility will be optional for investors and they can opt out of it and stressed that data analysis does not indicate any problems on the trading side if some investors were to opt out.
“If the FPIs don’t want to do that (instantaneous), they’re free to do that. And we’ve looked at the matching data (on) whose trade matches with whom. So, our belief based on that data is that it will not be a problem for anybody,” the official said.
Elaborating on the recently issued proposals to tackle the menace of financial influencers, the official said Sebi is acting keeping the future in mind and its intent is only to get into a situation if a regulated entity comes into the picture.
Separately, the markets regulator is also keeping tabs on activities with the help of states’ law enforcement agencies, the official said.
This sustained interest from FPIs, with equity assets worth Rs 1.38 lakh crore bought cumulatively in 2023, is a positive indicator for the markets.
Published Date – 05:44 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
Mumba: Stock indices closed on a positive note on Tuesday with the Sensex gaining 152.12 points to reach 65,780.26 and the Nifty rising by 46.10 points to 19,574.90.
In a mixed day for Nifty companies, 33 were in the green and 17 in the red at the time of closing of markets.
Among the Nifty companies, the top gainers included Apollo Hospitals, Coal India, Sun Pharma, BPCL, and ITC. Ultra Cement, Dr. Reddy, SBI Life, Maruti, and Eicher Motors were among the top losers when the market closed.
Varun Aggarwal, founder and managing director of Profit Idea, said the Nifty rally continues with a bullish momentum on the index and strong support at lower levels is evident.
“Small and mid-cap stocks have been surging in the last few sessions. Looking at how many small and mid-cap stocks are moving, we are likely to see this rally continue. The focus remains on IT, media, metal, banks, and chemicals stocks,” he said. Â “Bias remains strong on selected blue-chip stocks, index high-weightage stocks like HDFC Bank and Reliance are consolidating and look bullish from the current levels. Also, if they start an upward trajectory, Nifty is set to cross the 20,000 mark,” he added.
Indian stock markets managed to break a five-week losing streak, registering nearly one per cent gain last week. A significant factor contributing to the improved investor sentiment is India’s firm GDP growth rate of 7.8 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of 2023-24. This makes India the fastest-growing major economy.
Moreover, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued to be net buyers in Indian stock markets for the sixth consecutive month until August. This sustained interest from FPIs, with equity assets worth Rs 1.38 lakh crore bought cumulatively in 2023, is a positive indicator for the markets.
Calculations are based on more than 6.5 million orders worldwide and more than 1.3 million orders in India
Published Date – 07:05 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
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New Delhi: The global beauty industry continues to gain momentum every year – and more and more sales are made online. The Admitad partner network estimates that global sales of the beauty and self-care industry grew by more than 15 per cent in the first half of the year, while the number of online orders in India jumped by 13 per cent YoY. GMV of local beauty orders also jumped by more than 20 per cent.
To prepare this report, Admitad analyzed the sales of 450 brands worldwide and 155 brands in India, including such well-known companies and marketplaces as Sephora, Alibaba, Apollo 24X7, Forest Essentials, Plum Goodness, Beardo, BABOR, Loccitane, Clarins, Calvin Klein, Kiehl’s and many others. Calculations are based on more than 6.5 million orders worldwide and more than 1.3 million orders in India, that were generated by network partners for beauty brands and retail sites. India is back on beauty track The growth of online sales of beauty products in the world is strong but moderate.
Admitad calculates that the number of global online sales grew by 11 percent in 2022, and in the first half of 2023 the growth has already hit the mark of 15 percent. According to Neha Kulwal, Managing Director, APAC and India, Mitgo.
In 2022, Indian buying activity in the beauty industry hardly experienced any growth, but in the first half of 2023, it caught up with and even began to slightly outpace the pace of global customer activity. The number of beauty orders grew by 13 percent and the amount Indian shoppers are willing to spend on cosmetics and self care rose by 2 0percent. The average order value of online sales of beauty products in India has increased by a few percent and is now around 15 USD.
Local customers prefer to make smaller orders and actively take advantage of discount periods and bundles. The top 10 countries by the size of the average order value of beauty orders currently look like this: The source of beauty hunters In 2023, the keywords in online shopping for beauty products are “benefit” and “smart shopping”. Therefore, Admitad calculates that coupon and cashback purchases rank high worldwide.
However, the recommendations of influencers and content creators still faithfully generate orders for beauty brands – their share in the total number of orders is also significant: Interestingly, on average, global orders for beauty products from Google contextual ads grew by more than 30% in 2023.
Messengers, in particular Telegram, also became record-breakers in terms of sales growth in this segment – the number of orders through them more than doubled. Sales from Affiliate stores increased by 45%.
Admitad estimates that coupon platforms in India have had a greater impact on shoppers’ decisions than the global average, accounting for more than 22.5% of all orders. The positive attitude towards them in the country continues to grow – in 2023, the number of purchases in which Indian shoppers applied a coupon increased by 14%. Content sites and cashback services, on the other hand, attracted a few percent fewer shoppers in the beauty industry.
The share of purchases through contextual advertising and affiliate stores was at the global level. A unique trend for India has been the explosion of beauty purchases through the messenger Telegram. Their number more than quadrupled in 2023 and their share in total orders exceeded 10 percent. Brands should definitely take Messenger seriously, including Telegram channels and buying ads there in their marketing strategy. It is also important to note the rapid growth in the number of beauty purchases through contextual advertising on Google – this year it was this advertising network that accounted for more than half of all orders from advertising networks (including Yahoo, Facebook, and other networks).
The mobile frenzy The share of mobile sales in the global beauty industry in 2023 already stands at a staggering 46% and continues to grow (in 2022, the share of mobile sales was 44%). Indian users are overtaking global trends again – in 2022, more than 60% of orders in the beauty industry were made from phones. And in 2023, this figure has already exceeded 70%. Every brand that doesn’t yet have a mobile-friendly website or mobile app should devote resources to developing one right now so that they don’t miss out on the majority of customers.
Forecasts are positive Both global and Indian figures clearly indicate that the growth of online sales in the beauty industry will continue. According to Admitad experts, 2023 may end even more positively for Indian beauty brands than the successful 2022.
It is highly likely that the increase in the number of their sales for the whole year will reach up to 20%. Businesses should pay attention to the most effective traffic sources and those customer acquisition channels that show growth or have the highest average order value. This approach will help them not to miss trends and increase not only the number of orders but also improve other important business indicators.
The Reserve Bank has been mandated to maintain price stability, keeping in mind the objective of growth. Price stability has been numerically defined as maintaining a headline CPI inflation target of 4.0 per cent with a tolerance band of +/- 2 per cent.
Published Date – 07:23 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
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New Delhi: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the central bank is firmly focused on bringing down inflation to 4 per cent and remains prepared to undertake policy responses to deal with supply shocks, which have become more frequent with profound implications.
The current episode of high global inflation and preceding overlapping shocks of the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war have raised significant issues and challenges for the conduct of monetary policy, the governor said in a speech on ‘Art of Monetary Policy Making: The Indian Context’ at Delhi School of Economics (DSE) Diamond Jubilee Distinguished Lecture.
He said the monetary policy framework in India has evolved in line with the developments in theory and country practices, the changing nature of the economy and developments in financial markets. Within the broad objectives, the relative emphasis on inflation, growth and financial stability has, however, varied across monetary policy regimes since independence.
Das listed out steps the central bank took to deal with the situation created in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Following the outbreak of the war, the central bank raised the policy rates by 250 basis points since May 2022.
“After a near-zero policy rate for a prolonged period, central banks in these (advanced) economies started raising interest rates aggressively in 2022, which contributed to stress in certain banks in these economies. In contrast, our battle against inflation is not constrained by financial stability concerns. In fact, even during the COVID phase, we continuously took measures to strengthen financial stability,” the governor said.
The Reserve Bank, he said, has adopted a prudent approach and taken several initiatives to revamp the regulation and supervision of banks, NBFCs and other financial entities by developing an integrated and harmonised architecture.
“Our banking system remains resilient and healthy with improved capital ratios, asset quality and profitability,” he said.
Das said the RBI‘s experience in recent years shows that supply shocks have become more frequent with profound implications for inflation management and anchoring of inflation expectations. A key risk of sustained high inflation is that it can de-anchor inflation expectations.
“It is, therefore, important to remain vigilant and take necessary steps in a calibrated and timely manner to keep expectations firmly anchored.
“The Reserve Bank has been quick and calibrated while navigating through such turbulences. We look through fleeting shocks but remain prepared to undertake policy responses if such shocks show signs of persistence and getting generalised,” he said.
In such a scenario, monetary policy has to focus on containing the second-round effects, the governor added.
“We will remain watchful of this also. The role of continued and timely supply-side interventions, as being undertaken by the government, assumes criticality in limiting the severity and duration of such food price shocks.
“In these circumstances, it is necessary to be watchful of any risk to price stability and act timely and appropriately. We remain firmly focused on aligning inflation to the target of 4.0 per cent,” he added.
Headline inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) had eased to 4.8 per cent in June 2023 from the peak of 7.8 per cent in April 2022. It, however, surged to 7.4 per cent in July, mainly on account of a spurt in vegetable prices, which have already started moderating.
Das noted that low and stable inflation helps households and businesses in planning for long-term savings and investments, which ultimately drive innovation, productivity and sustainable growth.
On the contrary, high and volatile inflation corrodes the economy by denting productivity and the long-term growth potential, he said, adding inflation also imposes a disproportionate burden on the poor.
The Reserve Bank has been mandated to maintain price stability, keeping in mind the objective of growth. Price stability has been numerically defined as maintaining a headline CPI inflation target of 4.0 per cent with a tolerance band of +/- 2 per cent.
The tolerance band provides flexibility to accommodate growth and financial stability concerns, supply shocks and measurement and forecast errors, Das said.
The target is set by the government in consultation with the Reserve Bank for 5 years.
Last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also said that the central bank expects inflation to moderate from September onwards
Published Date – 08:05 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
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New Delhi: Having touched 15-month high of 7.4 per cent in July, retail inflation is expected to remain elevated in August as well, due to rising prices of cereals, sources said.
The August inflation print is scheduled to be announced on September 12.
However, sources said, it is expected to start moderating from September onwards due to fall in prices of vegetables like tomatoes, restrictions imposed on the export of non-basmati rice and cut in the prices of domestic LPG cylinders.
Last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also said that the central bank expects inflation to moderate from September onwards.
“We expect overall inflation to start moderating from September onwards. August inflation will be again very high, but we expect from September onwards inflation to go down,” he had said.
Das had said that prices of tomatoes have already fallen and retail prices of other vegetables are also expected to come down from this month.
The RBI Governor had said that the government has taken several steps to ensure the supply of tomatoes and other items of common need to the people at affordable prices.
The Reserve Bank of India is likely to review incremental Cash Reserve Ratio on September 8, sources said.
Last month, RBI had imposed a 10 per cent incremental cash reserve ratio for a limited period to help suck out Rs 1 lakh crore of excess liquidity from the system.
The move, announced along with the bi-monthly policy review, was the best option under the current circumstances and there is enough liquidity in the system for the banks to continue their lending operations, he had said.
The decision aimed at neutralising the impact of liquidity following deposit of Rs 2,000 currency notes which are being withdrawn from circulation.
As much as 93 per cent (or Rs 3.32 lakh crore) of such notes have already come back to the system and only Rs 24,000 crore are left.
The last date for exchange or deposit of such currency notes is September 30, 2023.
BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment System) cross-border bill payment will highlight the adaptability of the BBPS platform to integrate with fintechs and conventional financial players to facilitate domestic as well as cross-border payment transactions.
Published Date – 08:20 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India is planning to extend wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market, sources said on Tuesday.
The pilot in the wholesale segment, known as the Digital Rupee -Wholesale (e?-W), was launched on November 1, 2022, with the use case being limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities.
“RBI is now planning to go into the interbank borrowing market. The purpose of wholesale CBDC has been to try out different technologies…experimenting on technology is relatively easier for the wholesale pilot because participants are related,” according to sources.
The introduction of CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and necessary amendments to the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934, were made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022.
The RBI picked up nine banks — State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC — for its pilot project for wholesale CBDC.
Besides, the central bank has already rolled out a pilot in the retail version of the CBDC (e?-R) on December 1, 2022. The e?-R is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.
It is being issued in the same denominations as the paper currency and coins. It is being distributed through financial intermediaries like banks. Users can transact with e?- R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks.
About RuPay, sources said no instructions have been given to promote this.
However, they said, this has to be popularised by making it attractive.
Asked when the CBDC pilot ends, sources said there is no deadline as of now and 10.83 crore transactions amounting to Rs 24,000 crore were witnessed in August.
Meanwhile, the RBI will showcase various digital initiatives in the financial sector at the exhibition pavilion during the G20 Summit later this week.
These include Public Tech Platform (PTP) for Frictionless Credit, CBDC, UPI One World, RuPay On-The-Go and Bharat Bill Payment System.
There is a lot of interest being shown by G-20 member nations, especially on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay, sources said.
At Public Tech Platform, visitors can experience an interactive demonstration of the entire process — from onboarding to sanction and disbursement of the KCC and dairy loans in an entirely digital manner in a few minutes, revolutionising rural credit.
Sources said going forward this platform can be used for the distribution of small ticket loans like MSME, personal loans etc.
Besides, the central bank will showcase an informational video on the RBI’s digital rupee and its journey, and there will be live digital rupee transactions demonstrated by select banks, which are participating in the pilot.
UPI One World would enable visitors to onboard UPI without having a bank account in India.
RuPay On-The-Go would allow customers to carry out contactless payment transactions through accessories they wear (watch, ring) or use (key chain) every day and highlight the adaptability of the domestic card scheme-associated products at par with such global products.
BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment System) cross-border bill payment will highlight the adaptability of the BBPS platform to integrate with fintechs and conventional financial players to facilitate domestic as well as cross-border payment transactions.
There are about 12 lakh verified ITRs in which further information has been sought by the income tax department, for which requisite communication has been sent to the taxpayers through their registered e-filing accounts.
Published Date – 08:36 PM, Tue – 5 September 23
New Delhi: As many as 6.98 crore income tax returns (ITRs) have been filed till September 5, out of which 6.84 ITRs have been verified for the assessment year 2023-24, the government said on Tuesday.
More than six crore ITRs of assessment year (AY) 2023-24 have been processed out of the verified ITRs as on September 5, the Income Tax Department said, informing that this resulted in the processing of over 88 per cent of the verified ITRs.
More than 2.45 crore refunds for assessment year 2023-24 have already been issued, it said. The department’s efforts to provide seamless and expeditious taxpayer services are being continuously strengthened. In line with the same, average processing time of ITRs (after verification) has been reduced to 10 days for returns filed for AY 2023-24 compared to 82 days for AY 2019-20 and 16 days for AY 2022-23, official sources said.
There are about 14 lakh ITRs for AY 2023-24, which have been filed but are yet to be verified by the taxpayers as on September 4. Failure to verify the returns causes delays in processing as the Return can only be taken up for processing once the verification has been completed by the taxpayer. Taxpayers are urged to complete the verification process immediately.
There are about 12 lakh verified ITRs in which further information has been sought by the income tax department, for which requisite communication has been sent to the taxpayers through their registered e-filing accounts.
The department further said that there are several cases in which the ITRs have been processed and refunds have also been determined but it is unable to issue them as taxpayers have not yet validated their bank account in which the refund is to be credited. Taxpayers are requested to validate their bank accounts through the e-filing portal, the I-T department said.
The tribunal’s suggestion came against the backdrop of the crisis-hit carrier issuing shares in lieu of dues to nine aircraft lessors
Published Date – 07:20 AM, Wed – 6 September 23
New Delhi: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday suggested that SpiceJet settle the issues with lessors that have sought initiation of insolvency proceedings against it.
The tribunal’s suggestion came against the backdrop of the crisis-hit carrier issuing shares in lieu of dues to nine aircraft lessors.
On Tuesday, the NCLT was hearing a plea filed by Celestial Aviation Services Ltd, an operational creditor that had filed a plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against the airline.
A two-member NCLT bench observed that the airline is settling with some of aeroplane lessors by converting debt into equity.
“SpiceJet seems to be settling with other lessors by giving shares, Why don’t you settle with these lessors as well?,” the bench, comprising M M Khandelwal and Rahul Prasad Bhatnagar, said.
This was in reference to Celestial Aviation Services and four other lessors who have filed pleas against the airline.
Further, the bench said that in its opinion, it is in its best interest to settle with the lessors and suggested that all of them sit together and resolve the disputes.
The tribunal also observed that “banks have not filed insolvency petitions, only lessors have come”.
On Monday, SpiceJet announced the allotment of 4.81 crore equity shares on a preferential basis to nine of its aircraft lessors to clear outstanding dues of Rs 231 crore.
The NCLT is scheduled to hear pleas of all SpiceJet lessors on September 15, 2023.
According to regulatory filings — nine lessors who have been allotted shares include SASOF III (A13) Aviation Ireland DAC, SASOF III (A6) Aviation Ireland DAC, SASOF III (C) Aviation Ireland DAC, SASOF III (E) Aviation Ireland DAC, SASOF III (A19) Aviation Ireland DAC, SASOF II (J) Aviation Ireland DAC Citrine Aircraft Leasing Limited, Fly Aircraft Holdings Seven Limited, Fly Aircraft Holdings One Limited.
Forex traders said the rupee is trading lower on strong dollar and sustained foreign fund outflows over the past few days.
Published Date – 10:40 AM, Wed – 6 September 23
Mumbai: The rupee depreciated 5 paise to 83.09 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday as elevated crude oil prices and strength of the American currency weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the rupee is trading lower on strong dollar and sustained foreign fund outflows over the past few days.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.08, then touched 83.09, registering a decline of 5 paise over its last close.
On Tuesday, the rupee plunged by 33 paise to close at 83.04 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell marginally by 0.09 per cent to 104.71.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.07 per cent to USD 90.10 per barrel.
Saudi Arabia and Russia shook the oil world when they extended production cuts to December taking Brent oil to USD 90.19 per barrel, Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP said.
This spelled tighter supplies in the next four months as markets expected a supply cut only up to October. Oil is the biggest import for India and any spike in oil price will widen the Current Account Deficit, Bhansali said.
The rupee was sold as oil prices spiked and RBI allowed a move above 83 as demand from oil companies kept the US dollar higher, Bhansali said.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 76.15 points or 0.12 per cent higher at 65,856.41. The broader NSE Nifty rose 18.35 points or 0.09 per cent to 19,593.25.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,725.11 crore, according to exchange data.
