Notification No. 25/2012-Service Tax Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the following taxable services from the whole of the service tax leviable thereon under section 66B of the said Act, namely:- Services provided to the United Nations or a specified international organization; Health care services by a clinical establishment, an authorised medical practitioner or para-medics; Services by a veterinary clinic in relation to health care of animals or birds; Services by an entity registered under section 12AA of the Income tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) by way of charitable activities; Services by a person by way of-
The Reserve Bank of India, today released on its website, the final guidelines on “White Label Automated Teller Machines (WLAs) in India”. White Label ATMs are ATMs set up, owned and operated by non-bank entities incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956. Till now, only banks were permitted to set up Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as extended delivery channels.
Government of India has decided to extend interest subvention of 2% on rupee export credit with effect from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013 on the same terms and conditions to the following sectors : i. Handicrafts Carpet . Handlooms Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (as defined in Annex) Readymade garments Processed Agriculture Products Sport Goods Toys
Notification No. 24/2012-Income Tax Section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 – Double Taxation Agreement – Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of fiscal evasion with foreign countries – Norway. Whereas an Agreement between the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Norway for the avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital was signed at New Delhi on the 2nd day of February, 2011;
RPCD.CO.RRB.BC.No. 88/03.05.33/2011-12 In view of the timelines attached to the implementation of EBT for routing MGNREGA wages and social security benefits including proposed cash transfers in respect of subsidies on Kerosene, LPG and Fertilisers, you are requested to ensure opening of Aadhaar Enabled Bank Accounts (AEBA) of all the beneficiaries including those residing in villages with less than 2000 population.
State Level Bankers’ Committees (SLBCs) are now mandated to prepare a roadmap covering all unbanked villages of population less than 2000 and notionally allot these villages to banks for providing banking services, in a time-bound manner. The notional allotment is only intended to ensure that all villages are provided with at least one banking outlet for providing banking services and does not deny or bar any other bank from operating in these areas based on the available business potential.
Please refer to the paragraphs 121-123 of the Monetary Policy Statement 2012-13, wherein we have emphasized the importance of implementing IT and IS Governance structure in banks. It is expected that all banks adopt appropriate frameworks for both IT and IS Governance and put in place the proper structure and systems. Accordingly, we request you to take up suitable steps at your end in this regard and ensure that the issues relating to governance, information security and business continuity get adequate attention at the Board level. In this regard, the document prepared by IDRBT on the ‘Organizational Structure for IT in the Indian Banking Sector’ can serve as a reference manual.
With a view to enhancing the credit flow to the export sector, it has been decided to enhance the eligible limit of the ECR facility for scheduled banks (excluding RRBs) from 15 per cent of the outstanding export credit eligible for refinance to 50 per cent, effective fortnight beginning June 30, 2012. This will provide additional liquidity support to banks of over `300 billion. The rate of interest charged on the ECR facility will continue to be the prevailing repo rate under the LAF, which is currently 8.0 per cent.
Attention is invited to paragraphs 81 to 83 of the Monetary Policy Statement 2012-13 announced on April 17, 2012 with regard to home loans on floating interest rates. The Committee on Customer Service in Banks (Chairman: M. Damodaran) had observed that foreclosure charges levied by banks on prepayment of home loans are resented upon by home loan borrowers across the board especially since banks were found to be hesitant in passing on the benefits of lower interest rates to the existing borrowers in a falling interest rate scenario. As such, foreclosure charges are seen as a restrictive practice deterring the borrowers from switching over to cheaper available source.
The removal of foreclosure charges/prepayment penalty on home loans will lead to reduction in the discrimination between existing and new borrowers and competition among banks will result in finer pricing of the floating rate home loans. Though many banks have in the recent past voluntarily abolished pre-payment penalties on floating rate home loans, there is a need to ensure uniformity across the banking system. It has, therefore, been decided that banks will not be permitted to charge foreclosure charges/pre-payment penalties on home loans on floating interest rate basis, with immediate effect.
