Online filing of petitions - CERC

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has vide its circular dated 22nd January, 2015 provided for online filing of the petitions and pleadings by the parties before the Commission. The gist of their circular is given below:

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission determines the tariff of the generating
companies and transmission licensees covered under the jurisdiction of the Commission and
regulate inter-State transmission of electricity and adjudicates the disputes relating thereto apart
from other functions based on the petitions filed before the Commission. Presently, all petitions
and pleadings are filed by the parties before the Commission in accordance with Regulation 27
of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Conduct of Business) Regulations, 1999. The
Regulation provides for filing of petitions and pleadings through CD/electronic media on such
terms and conditions as may be decided by the Commission.
2. In order to improve and expedite the process of disposal of petitions, the Commission has
decided to introduce electronic filing of all petitions, applications, replies, rejoinders, etc with
effect from 1st February, 2015. As a first step in this direction, all the petitions, replies and
rejoinders, etc filed by the parties are being digitized for creating data base to facilitate e-filing.
3. The generating companies, licensees, system operators, and any other person who has
filed or is intending to file a petition before the Commission are requested to henceforth file soft
copy of all the pleadings like petitions, replies, rejoinders, written submissions, documents,
affidavits, etc in pdf and word format in a CD along with the usual hard copies. All
pleadings/filings/submissions made after 1st March, 2015 shall be accepted only if accompanied
by soft copy, as stated above. The parties are also requested to mail the petition, replies,
rejoinder, written submissions, etc. to registry@cercind.gov.in

Domestic Carriage Charges - TRAI regulation

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today issued the “Telecommunication Interconnection Usage Charges (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations” which prescribe a revised domestic carriage charge of 35 paisa per minute. 

         

An Access Service provider in India offers access services within the Licensed Service Area (LSA) only.  Inter-LSA calls have to be routed through a National Long Distance Operator (NLDO).  The charges to be paid by an access provider to the NLDO to cover the cost for carrying inter-LSA calls are called carriage charges. TRAI had prescribed the carriage charges through the Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) Regulations of 23^rd February, 2006 which stipulated a ceiling of 65 paisa per minute.  These charges were reviewed again in 2008/2009 but the same ceiling of 65 paisa per minute was retained. 

To review the IUC, the Authority issued a Consultation Paper on 19.11.2014 to seek the views of stakeholders on various component of IUC including domestic carriage charges. Stakeholders were asked to submit written comments by 11.12.2014 and counter-comments by 18.12.2014. On the request of some stakeholders, the dates for submission of comments and counter-comments were extended up-to 22.12.2014 and 29.12.2014 respectively. Written comments were received from two industry associations, 15 TSPs and 47 other stakeholders, including companies, organizations, firms and individuals. Counter-comments were received from six TSPs and one individual. An Open House Discussion was held on 09.01.2015 in Delhi with stakeholders. 

On the basis of comments received from stakeholders either in writing or during the Open House Discussion and internal analysis, the Authority has reduced the ceiling of the domestic carriage charge to 35 paisa per minute from the existing 65 paisa per minute through these Regulations which will be effective from 1^st March, 2015. 

TRAI has already issued regulations prescribing Mobile Termination Charge and Fixed Termination Charge and International Termination Charge on 23^rd February, 2015. 

Full text of the “Telecommunication Interconnection Usage Charges (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations” is available on TRAI’s website: www.trai.gov.in.

Coastal Zone Regulations - exemptions for memorials/ monuments etc.

The Ministry of Environment & Forests has vide its notification dated 17th February, 2015 given exemption to construction of memorials/ monuments in Coastal Zone IV areas subject to clearance from the State Coastal Zone Management ARea.

The exemption is for reclamation from the seas as well as dressing or altering the sand dunes, hills, natural landscapes.

CRZ-IV is water area from low tide line to 12 nautical miles on seaward side and shall include the water area of the tidal influenced water body from the mouth of the water body at the sea upto the influence of the tide which is measured as 5 parts per thousand during the driest part of the year.

http://envfor.nic.in/sites/default/files/SO%20NO.556%20E-12302012072610.pdf

Indian Accounting Standards notified

Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified the Indian Accounting Standards Rules on 16th February, 2015.

Listed and unlisted companies and having net worth of Rs.500 crores or more are required to follow the IndAs from the financial year 2016-17 onwards with comparatives for the year ending 31st March, 2016.  Holding, subsidiary, associate or joint venture of these category companies will also follow this schedule

Listed Companies having net worth of less than Rs.500 crores will start adhering to the IndAs from the financial year 2017-18 with comparatives for financial year ending 31st March, 2017. Unlisted companies with networth of Rs.250 crores to Rs.500 crores will also follow this schedule. As again, the holding, subsidiary, associate or joint venture companies of such category companies will follow this schedule.

Companies listed on the SME platform or Institutional Trading Platform are not required to follow the schedule for other listed companies.

Networth shall be determined as at 31st March, 2014.

Of course any company wanting to voluntarily follow the IndAS can do so from the financial year 2015-16 onwards with comparatives for the financial year ending 31st March, 2015. But once a company starts following the IndAS then for all subsequent financial years, it has to the follow the IndAS standards.

The standards are available at the MCA website.

Private Placement of NCDs by NBFCs

RBI revised its guidelines on private placement of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) vide its circular dated 20th February, 2015.

Salient features of the guidelines are given below:

A. Guidelines on Private Placement of NCDs (maturity more than 1 year) by NBFCs:

1. NBFCs shall put in place a Board approved policy for resource planning which, inter-alia, should cover the planning horizon and the periodicity of private placement.

2. The issues shall be governed by the following instructions:

1. The minimum subscription per investor shall be Rs. 20,000 (Rupees Twenty thousand);
2. The issuance of private placement of NCDs shall be in two separate categories, those with a maximum subscription of less than Rs. 1 crore and those with a minimum subscription of Rs. 1 crore and above per investor;
3. There shall be a limit of 200 subscribers for every financial year, for issuance of NCDs with a maximum subscription of less than Rs. 1 crore, and such subscription shall be fully secured;
4. There shall be no limit on the number of subscribers in respect of issuances with a minimum subscription of Rs. 1 crore and above; the option to create security in favour of subscribers will be with the issuers. Such unsecured debentures shall not be treated as public deposits as defined in NBFCs Acceptance of Public Deposits (Reserve Bank) Directions, 1998.
5. An NBFC (excluding Core Investment Companies) shall issue debentures only for deployment of funds on its own balance sheet and not to facilitate resource requests of group entities / parent company / associates.
6. An NBFC shall not extend loans against the security of its own debentures (issued either by way of private placement or public issue).

3. Tax exempt bonds offered by NBFCs are exempted from the applicability of the circular.

4. For NCDs of maturity upto one year, guidelines on Issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2010, dated June 23, 2010, by Internal Debt Management Department, RBI shall be applicable.

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FDI insurance notified

Ministry of Finance Press Release dated 20th february, 2015

The Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Rules, 2015 have been notified by the Government of India under the powers conferred by Section 114 of the Insurance Act, 1938 read with clause (b) of sub-section (7A) of Section 2 of the Insurance Act, 1938 and Section 24 of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999. These Rules have been prepared based on extensive consultations with all the relevant Departments/Organisations. These Rules incorporate the recent amendments in the law into the standing/prevalent practices being followed hitherto with respect to the treatment of foreign investment in Indian Insurance Companies under extant applicable regulations and the FDI policy of Government of India. According to these rules, foreign equity investment cap of 49 per cent is applicable to all Indian insurance companies and they shall not allow the aggregate holdings by way of total foreign investment in their equity shares by Foreign Investors, including portfolio investors, to exceed forty-nine per cent of their paid-up equity capital and also shall ensure that ownership and control shall remain at all times in the hands of resident Indian entities as referred to in these rules. The foreign equity investment cap of 49 per cent shall also apply to Insurance Brokers, Third Party Administrators, Surveyors and Loss Assessors and other insurance intermediaries appointed under the provisions of the IRDA Act, 1999. As per these rules, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals up to 26 per cent of the total paid-up equity of the Indian Insurance Company shall be allowed on the automatic route, and FDI proposals which take the total Foreign Investment above 26 per cent and up to the cap of 49 per cent shall require FIPB approval. Further, Foreign Portfolio Investment in an Indian Insurance Company shall be governed by the provisions contained in the relevant sub-regulations/regulations under FEMA Regulations, 2000 and provisions of the Securities Exchange Board of India (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations. Any increase of foreign investment of an Indian insurance company shall be in accordance with the pricing guidelines specified by Reserve Bank of India under the FEMA. These rules shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. A copy of these rules are also placed on the website of Department of Financial Services at www.financialservices.gov.in

Govt. e-Biz portal launched

Ministry of Commerce & Industry Press Release dated 19th Feb 2015

 

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry today announced the launch of 11 Central Government Services on eBiz portal. These services are required for starting a business in the country - four services from Ministry of Corporate Affairs, two services of Central Board of Direct Taxes, two services of Reserve Bank of India and one service each from Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and Petroleum & Explosives Safety Organisation.  A business-user today avails these services either from the portal of respective Ministry/Department or by physical submission of forms. With the integration of these services on eBiz portal, he/she can avail all these services 24*7 online end-to-end i.e., online submission of forms, attachments, payments, tracking of status and also obtain the license/permit from eBiz portal. 

Through eBiz portal, a business user can fill the eForms online/offline, upload the attachments, make payment online and submit the forms for processing of the department. He will be provided with copy of challan, which he can save or print, acknowledgement of submission and tracking of status of the form besides receiving sms alerts on important notifications. The certificate/clearance can be downloaded from eBiz. The eBiz platform, thus, enables a transformational shift in the Governments’ service delivery approach from being department-centric to customer-centric as a single window portal.

eBiz – India’s Government-to-Business (G2B) portal  was conceptualized with support from National Institute of Smart Government (NISG) as the consulting partner and developed by M/s. Infosys Ltd., Bangalore in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model for a period of 10 years. The first three years of the term would be the pilot phase, while the remaining seven years will be the expansion phase. During the pilot phase, 50 (26 central + 24 state) services are being implemented across ten pilot states viz., Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. It is envisaged that during the next few years, more than 200 services related to investors and businesses will be rolled-out across the country.

One of the salient features of eBiz is its payment gateway solution. With integration of PSU banks, government fees are transferred on ‘T+1’ basis. For eBiz transactions, an electronic PAO system (ePAO) has been set up in DIPP which will make booking and reconciliation of all Central Government fees received through eBiz portal. The Comptroller General of Accounts has given approval to establish the electronic system of collection, apportionment and remittance of fees collected under the eBiz portal. It is for the first time in the country that collection of fees through credit and debit cards for different services have been permitted making it very convenient for business to deposit fees.

Speaking on the occasion the Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Shri Arun Jaitley, said, “We are firmly committed to wide-ranging initiatives aimed at fostering the business environment in the country in a holistic manner. Our approach includes leveraging technology to bring transparency, improve efficiency and promote convenience. eBiz is an important step in this direction. With the integration of 11 services, an important milestone in the electronic service delivery mechanism between the citizens’ and Governments Departments has been achieved”. The Minister of State (Independent Charge), Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said “Now, irrespective of the level of computerization at the Department’s end, whether online or not, eBiz platform will provide end-to-end online submission and processing of forms including online payment. This marks the highest level of maturity in web-based eGovernance applications as it strives to achieve horizontal integration across various verticals of Central government, State governments and Para-statal agencies. The integrated payment gateway, which is also the first of its kind in the country, provides for debiting from and crediting to multiple sources in a completely automated manner. Such a gateway can serve as the universal gateway for all eGovernance applications. All that would be required is integration of the department or the particular service with the eBiz portal.” Also present in the function, the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Labour & Employment Shri Bandaru Dattatreya said “we had earlier launched the ‘Employer Registration’ service of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation on eBiz portal in December, 2014 and with today’s launch of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s service, another milestone has been achieved by the Ministry in creating conducive atmosphere for doing business with ease in the country.”

 

 

 

List of 11 services

 

0S. No.	Ministry/ Dept. Name	Service  Name
1	Ministry of Corporate Affairs	Name Availability
2	Ministry of Corporate Affairs	Director Identification Number
3	Ministry of Corporate Affairs	Certificate of Incorporation
4	Ministry of Corporate Affairs	Commencement of Business
5	Central Board of Direct Taxes	Issue of Permanent Account Number (PAN)
6	Central Board of Direct Taxes	Issue of Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN)
7	Reserve Bank of India	Advanced Foreign Remittance (AFR)
8	Reserve Bank of India	Foreign Collaboration-General Permission Route (FC-GPR)
9	Employees’ Provident Fund Organization	Employer Registration
10	Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization	Issue of Explosive License
11	Directorate General of Foreign Trade	Importer Exporter Code License