QBiz: Jio to Hike Tariffs; Study Finds Slowing Employment Growth
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1. Now, Reliance Jio Too Decides to Hike Phone Tariffs
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, India’s only profitable telecom company, unexpectedly said it will join rivals Bharti Airtel Ltd and Vodafone Idea Ltd in raising tariffs, indicating that a three-year-long price war that unleashed an unprecedented consolidation in the industry is nearing an end.
The Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio will “take measures including appropriate increase in tariffs in the next few weeks in a manner that does not adversely impact data consumption or growth in digital adoption and sustains investments," the company said on Tuesday.
(Source: Mint)
2. Jio and BSNL Top Gainers as Wireless Subscriber Base Widens to 1.17 Million in September
The wireless subscriber base in the country increased to 1,173.75 million at the end of September, primarily on the back of additions by Reliance Jio and BSNL. Apart from these two, all other operators lost wireless subscribers in the month, data shared by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said.
The wireless subscriber base stood at 1,171 million at the end of August. Another notable thing that has happened during the month is an increase in wireline subscribers, that too because of Reliance Jio, which added 857,461 users. The wireline subscriber base has been declining continuously over the past few years. At the end of September, the wireline subscriber base stood at 21.49 million against 20.82 million at the end of August.
(Source: The Financial Express)
3. Employment Growth Has Slowed in Last Two Years: Care Ratings Study
The employment growth in the country has slowed down in the last two years, to 3.9 percent in 2017-18 and 2.8 percent in 2018-19 as the core industries have witnessed virtually, a negative growth in hiring, according to a study.
"In terms of growth in employment on an annual basis, it was 2.5 per cent in 2015-16, 4.1 percent in 2016-17 and 3.9 percent and 2.8 percent in 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively. Hence, there has been a slowdown in growth in the last 2 years after a sharp recovery in 2016-17," according to a study by Care Ratings.
(Source: PTI)
4. RBI Finds Yes Bank Under-Reported Bad Loans by Rs 3,277 Crore in FY19
Private sector lender Yes Bank on Tuesday said the Reserve Bank of India has found that it has under-reported bad loans by Rs 3,277 crore in the year ended 31 March.
Of this, Rs 1,259 crore has already been classified as non-performing as on 30 September and Rs 2,018 crore is the amount of incremental bad loans, Yes Bank said.
Divergence in bad loans and provisions arise when the bank’s and RBI’s assessments differ.
(Source: Mint)
5. Jet Airways Crisis: Synergy Gets Time Till 16 December to Bid for Beleaguered Airline
The Committee of creditors (CoC) to Jet Airways on Tuesday broadly agreed to give the Synergy Group, the only entity that evinced an interest in the beleaguered airline, time till December 16 to submit its bid. The proposal was discussed at a CoC meeting on Tuesday, and will be put to vote during the week.
The proposal comes a day after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) asked the Colombia-based group to appear before it and show a bona fide intent to participate in the airline’s resolution by December 3.
(Source: The Financial Express)
6. Mukesh Ambani's RIL Beats BP to Make Elite Club of 6 Global Energy Giants
Reliance Industries Ltd., run by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has eclipsed BP Plc to break into an elite club of energy supermajors.
The Indian conglomerate’s market capitalization was about $133 billion, overtaking the British energy giant’s $132 billion value at the close of trading on Tuesday. Reliance’s shares have increased at three times the pace of India’s benchmark index this year after its billionaire owner in August announced plans to cut the company’s net debt to zero in 18 months through measures including a stake sale in the oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco.
The surge in shares gives Ambani a net worth of $56 billion, making him Asia’s richest person, above Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
(Source: Bloomberg)
7. Scrappage Policy Hits Another Roadblock After Niti Aayog Flags Issues
India’s long-delayed attempt to frame a vehicle scrappage policy has hit another roadblock.
This time, federal policy think-tank NITI Aayog has raised concerns on a draft voluntary vehicle scrappage policy prepared by the road ministry that seeks to phase out old and polluting automobiles.
The government hopes the policy laced with incentives would drive vehicle sales and help the auto industry that has been experiencing sluggish demand for about a year.
(Source: Mint)
8. Vodafone Idea Presses for Rs 7,000 Cr Tax Refund; I-T Dept Hesitant in View of Fresh Liability
Vodafone Idea, India’s third-largest telecom service provider, is seeking about Rs 7,000 crore in tax refunds for past years even as it faces fresh statutory dues liability – running into thousands of crore – that has put the income tax department in a bind, sources privy to the development said. The tax department has in past adjusted refunds against a company’s other liabilities towards the government.
It had famously adjusted Rs 1,500 crore in tax refunds due to Cairn Energy plc of UK to part settle a retrospective tax demand of Rs 10,247 crore even though the matter was under arbitration. Sources said Vodafone has to receive an aggregate of about Rs 1,000 crore from Mumbai unit of income tax department and another Rs 6,000 crore from its Delhi office for multiple assessment years dating back to 2004-05.
(Source: PTI)
9. PSBs Have Reported Rs 95,700-Crore Frauds in First 6 Months of FY20: FM
Public sector banks (PSBs) reported frauds of over Rs 95,700 crore in the first six months of the current financial year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), PSBs reported 5,743 incidents of fraud involving a total amount of Rs 95,760.49 crore from April 1 to September 30 (based on the date of reporting). She said based on the date of occurrence of frauds, during the same period, the number of frauds was 1,007, involving a total amount of Rs 2,509.86 crore.
In a written reply to another question, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur told the Rajya Sabha that government-owned banks reported 26.1 per cent of all frauds worth over Rs 1 lakh brought to notice during 2018-19, while their lending share was 63.81 per cent in the aggregate gross advances of scheduled commercial banks.
(Source: Business Standard)
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