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Central Government relaxes provisions of TCS under section 206C(1G) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of non-resident individuals visiting India (Press release dated 31st March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Income Tax

Section 206C (1G) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”) provides for collection of tax by a seller of an overseas tour programme package from a buyer, being a person purchasing such package, at the rate of 5% of the amount of the package.

Representations were received from domestic tour operators who were facing difficulties in collection of tax from non-resident individuals visiting India who were booking overseas tour package from such domestic tour operators. Since such persons may not have a PAN, tax is required to be collected at higher rates. Further, such non-residents may find it difficult to furnish their ITR and claim refunds.

In order to remove such difficulties, the Central Government, in exercise of powers conferred under section 206C(1G) of the Act, has specified that the provisions of the said section shall not apply to a buyer being an individual who is not a resident in India in terms of clause (1) and clause (1A) of section 6 of the Act and who is visiting India. Hence, a domestic tour operator is not required to collect tax on sale of overseas tour package to non-resident individuals visiting India.

Notification No. 20 of 2022 dated 30.03.2022 has also been issued and is available on www.incometaxindia.gov.in under the Notification Section.

Virtual Hearing Policy In The Courts (Press Release 31st March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Court Room, Legal awareness

Disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary.  No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts. Government has no role in disposal of cases in courts. Timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia, include availability of adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, co-operation of stake holders viz. bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures. There are several factors which may lead to delay in disposal of cases.  These, inter-alia, include vacancies of judges, frequent adjournments and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing. The Central Government is fully committed to speedy disposal of cases in accordance with Article 21 of the Constitution and reducing pendency.  The Government has taken several initiatives to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary.

National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was set up in August, 2011 with the twin objectives of increasing access by reducing delays and arrears in the system and enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities.  The Mission has been pursuing a co-ordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial administration, which, inter-alia, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerization, increase in strength of subordinate judiciary, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation, re-engineering of court procedure for quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development.

Facilities for virtual hearing are available in the Supreme Court as well as in High Courts of the country. Since Covid lockdown started, the District courts heard 1,11,40,223 cases while the High Court heard 60,21,688 cases (totalling 1.71 crore) till 31.01.2022 using video conferencing. The Supreme Court held 2,18,891 hearings till 14.03.2022 since the beginning of lockdown period. To bring about uniformity and standardization in the conduct of Video Conferencing (VC), an overarching order was passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on 6th April 2020 which gave legal sanctity and validity to the court hearings done through VC. Further, VC rules were framed by a 5-judge committee which was circulated to all the High Courts for adoption after local contextualization. A total of 23 High Courts have implemented Video Conferencing rules. One video conference equipment each has been provided to all Court Complexes including taluk level courts and additionally funds have been sanctioned for additional VC equipment for 14,443 court rooms. Funds for setting up 2506 VC Cabins have been made available. Additional 1500 VC Licenses have been acquired. VC facilities are already enabled between 3240 court complexes and corresponding 1272 jails. A sum of Rs. 7.60 crore has been released for procurement of 1732 Document Visualizers.

Virtual hearing of the cases by the High Courts and the Supreme Court has helped the litigants including the under privileged litigants as it helps litigants to appear before the court from any location of their choice thus leading to considerable saving of time and money.   It also helped the entire legal ecosystem including vulnerable litigants to have recourse to justice delivery system particularly during the Covid pandemic when congregational mode of court hearing could not be held due to lockdown and social distancing protocols.  However, whether open physical courts will operate alongwith virtual hearing is an administrative matter which falls within the purview and domain of judiciary for taking a decision.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in Rajya Sabha, today.

Amendment to the provisions of Income-tax Rules, 1962 for prescribing fees under section 234H of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Press release 30th March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Income Tax

Under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”), every person who has been allotted a PAN as on 1st July, 2017 and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar Number, is required to intimate his Aadhaar to the prescribed authority on or before 31st March, 2022. On failure to do so, his PAN shall become inoperative and all procedures in which PAN is required shall be halted. The PAN can be made operative again upon intimation of Aadhaar to the prescribed authority after payment of a prescribed fee.

In order to mitigate the inconvenience to the taxpayers, as per Notification No.17/2022 dated 29th March, 2022, a window of opportunity has been provided to the taxpayers upto 31st of March, 2023 to intimate their Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for Aadhaar-PAN linking without facing repercussions. As a result, taxpayers will be required to pay a fee of Rs. 500 up to three months from 1st April, 2022 and a fee of Rs.1000 after that, while intimating their Aadhaar.

However, till 31st March, 2023 the PAN of the assessees who have not intimated their Aadhaar, will continue to be functional for the procedures under the Act, like furnishing of return of income, processing of refunds etc. A detailed Circular No.7/2022 dated 30.03.2022 has also been issued in this regard.

After 31st March, 2023, the PAN of taxpayers who fail to intimate their Aadhaar, as required, shall become inoperative and all the consequences under the Act for not furnishing, intimating or quoting the PAN shall apply to such taxpayers.

MCA (Ease of Doing Business) : Steps undertaken to ensure the quick registration of companies in India (Press release 30 March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Company Law, Entrepreneurship

The Government of India has undertaken a number of steps to ensure the quick registration of companies in India, which are as under:

1. A single integrated new web form called SPICe+ along with AGILE PRO-S has been deployed. This form provides eleven services related to ‘starting a           business’         namely (i) Name Reservation, (ii) Incorporation, (iii) Permanent            Account Number        (PAN), (iv) Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN), (v) Director    Identification Number (DIN), (vi) Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation             (EPFO)            Registration, (vii) Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Registration, (viii)             Goods and Services Tax (GST) number, (ix) Bank Account             Number, (x)    Profession Tax Registration (Mumbai, Kolkata and Karnataka), (xi)             Delhi   Shops and Establishment Registration.

2. Zero fee is now charged for incorporation of all companies with authorized           capital up to Rs. 15 lakh or with up to 20 members where no share capital is      applicable.

3. A Central Registration Centre (CRC) has been set up for name reservation and      incorporation of companies & Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) within 1 day.

4. The LLP Incorporation Form called FiLLiP has also been integrated with Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to provide PAN/TAN at the time of Incorporation   of         LLP itself.

5.  The Companies (Incorporation) Third Amendment Rules, 2020, now provide for   extension of reservation of name through a simple web service available at         http://www.mca.gov.in.


6. Provisions with regard to incorporation and functioning of One-Person      Companies      (OPCs) have been revised so as to incentivize incorporation of OPCs. Now,        Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are also allowed to incorporate OPCs. OPCs are        now allowed to convert into private or public companies at any point of time. The       restrictions with regard to maximum amount of paid-up       capital and turnover for             OPCs have also been removed.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Steps taken to promote upskilling or reskilling & capacity building in the field of Artificial Intelligence (Press release 30 March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology

Government of India has taken several steps to promote upskilling or reskilling in the field of Artificial Intelligence which include the following: –

  1. Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has initiated a programme titled FutureSkills PRIME (www.futureskillsprime.in) in collaboration with NASSCOM, a B2C framework for re-skilling/ up-skilling of IT professionals in 10 Emerging are as including Artificial Intelligence. So far, 7 Lakh candidates have signed-up on the FutureSkills PRIME Portal, out of which, 1.2 lakh candidates have completed their courses. In addition, 524 Trainers and 4292 Government Officials have been trained on these technologies by NIELIT/C-DAC Resource Centres, and around 1.3 lakh unique learners have collectively earned 8.9 lakh ‘badges’ in recognition of having completed bite- sized digital fluency content.Under Artificial Intelligence, 36,528 candidates are enrolled in deep– skilling courses and 47,744 candidates are enrolled in Foundation courses.
  2. Government has published the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in June 2018 and proposes to develop an ecosystem for the research and adoption of Artificial Intelligence i.e. #AIFOR ALL.
  3. Government has launched ‘National AI Portal’ (https://indiaai.gov.in/) which is a repository of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based initiatives in the country at a single place. As on date, there are 1024 national and international articles, 655 news, 200 videos, 90 research reports, 279 Startups, 120 Government initiatives listed at National AI Portal.

In addition, various steps have been taken to promote capacity building in Artificial Intelligence which include the following:

  1. Government has initiated ‘Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme’ with an objective to enhance the number of PhDs in Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT Enabled Services (IT/ITES) sectors in the country. The research areas under the scheme include Artificial Intelligence (covering 82 PhD fellows) and Machine Learning (covering 59 PhD fellows).
  2. National Programme on Responsible Use of AI for Youth: With the objective to empower the youth to become AI ready and help reduce the skill gap, government along with Industry partner has started this initiative to promote AI awareness among Government school going children. In Phase I, 50,666 students and 2536 teachers from 2252 schools from 35 States and UTs attended orientation sessions on AI. In Phase II, 100 teams have been short listed and have undergone extensive mentoring by AI experts. In Phase-III, Top 20 students have demonstrated their solutions in the national conference.
  3. To foster innovation through research, government has created several ‘Centres of Excellence’ on various Emerging Technologies including Artificial Intelligence. These centres connect various entities such as startups, enterprises, venture capitalists, government and academia to look into problem statements and develop innovative solutions.
  4. Department of Science & Technology is implementing the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to promote R&D, Human Resource Development (HRD), Technology Development, Entrepreneurship Development, International Collaboration etc. As part of the Mission implementation, 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (this) have been established in reputed institutes across the country in advanced technologies including Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.
  5. Government of India has also joined the league of leading economies including USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore as a founding member of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), which is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.
  6. Government of India organized Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) in 2020, a first-of-its-kind global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India’s vision and roadmap for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment through responsible AI. It was attended by 79,000+ stakeholders from academia, research, industry and government representatives from 147 participating countries.320 distinguished speakers from 21 countries participated in the event.

The initiatives mentioned above are focusing on digital enablement of citizensin the field of Artificial Intelligence including those belonging to the Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities. Further, the FutureSkills PRIME programmefollows an ‘aggregator of aggregators’ approach for digital skills training on a national scale and is hosted as an online B2Ce-commerce platform, thereby also enabling citizens in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities to participate in the programme. To further strengthen the physical and digital connectivity, 40 C-DAC/NIELIT Centres spread across the country are also institutionalizing blended-learning programmes, in a hub and spoke mode, as Lead & Co-Lead Resource Centres.

Further, the FutureSkills PRIME programme targets to re-skill/ up-skill aspirants in emerging technologies so that they stay relevant in their present job with improved prospects, besides finding new avenues in future job-roles.The programme also targets those whose may have lost their existing jobs due to disruptive and emerging technologies. Towards this, the programme takes into account employment linkages, such as a ‘Career Prime’ web-page on the platform and an integrated ‘Career Portal’,which provides information on IT-ITeS jobs, internships, apprenticeships, hackathons etc.

Under FutureSkills PRIME, incentives are available to the trainees, including those from economically weaker backgrounds, after the learner is successfully assessed and certified. The incentive mechanism is aimed at motivating the learner to successfully complete the online up- skilling/re-skilling programs.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

 

13 companies withdrew misleading advertisements, 3 companies agreed for corrective advertisement after CCPA issued notices (Press release 30 March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Consumer Protection

13 companies withdrew misleading advertisements, 3 companies agreed for corrective advertisement after CCPA issued notices


CCPA imposed penalties on 3 companies for their misleading advertisements

The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that based on the notices issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) against misleading advertisements by companies, 13 companies withdrew misleading advertisements and 3 companies agreed for corrective advertisement. CCPA has also imposed penalties on 3 companies for their misleading advertisements. CCPA has recently issued two Safety Notices to alert and make consumers cautious against buying household goods which do not conform to BIS standards. An advisory has also been issued to industry associations highlighting the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act and to impress upon their members to cease from making false claims about effectiveness against corona virus which are not supported by competent and duly authorized scientific advice.

Under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 2019, CCPA has been established w.e.f 24.07.2020 to regulate matters, inter alia, relating to false or misleading advertisements which are prejudicial to the interests of public and consumers as a class. The CCPA can issue directions to the concerned trader or manufacturer or endorser or advertiser or publisher, as the case may be, to discontinue such advertisement or to modify the same. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 also provides for imposition of penalty by the CCPA on a manufacturer or endorser or publisher and imprisonment and penalty by a competent court on any manufacturer or service provider, who is found responsible for a false or misleading advertisement.

All advertisements telecast on private satellite TV channels are required to adhere the Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 framed thereunder. Appropriate action is taken in cases where Advertising Code is found to be violated.

Section 23 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 describes responsibility of Food Business Operators in respect of packaging and labelling of food products while Section 24 places restrictions on misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices.

FSSAI has notified the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations on 19.11.2018. These regulations are aimed at establishing fairness in claims and advertisements of food products and make food businesses accountable for such claims/advertisements so as to protect consumer interests.

Cabinet approves setting up of National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC) (Press release 29th March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Business Consultancy, Financial Prudence

Cabinet approves setting up of National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC)


NLMC to undertake monetization of surplus land and building assets of CPSEs and other Government agencies

The Union Cabinet on 9th March 2022 has approved setting up of National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC) as a wholly owned Government of India company with an initial authorized share capital of Rs 5,000 crore and paid-up share capital of Rs 150 crore. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

The Minister stated that NLMC will undertake monetization of surplus land and building assets of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and other Government agencies. The proposal is in pursuance of the Budget Announcement for 2021-22, the Minister stated.

NLMC, the Minister listed out, has the following objectives:

  1. To undertake professional and orderly monetization of land and other non- core assets referred to it.
  2. To own, hold, manage and monetize land and building assets of CPSEs under closure and surplus land and buildings of 100% GoI owned CPSEs under strategic disinvestment.
  3. To advise and support monetization of surplus land assets of (i)Demerged companies holding surplus land (ii) Other CPSEs
  4. To advise and assist government departments, statutory bodies/ authorities, autonomous bodies, corporations, etc. on monetisation of surplus and under- utilized non-core assets.
  5. To identify surplus land and building assets to create an inventory for monetization in consultation with CPSEs/other government agencies.
  6. to build a capable organisation with skill and competencies to enable speedier and efficient monetisation which can generate maximum value from government assets.
  7. To act as a repository of best practices in land monetization, assist and provide expert technical advice to DPE / DIPAM /Government of India in implementation of asset monetisation program.

The Minister further stated that NLMC would be administered by a Board of Directors. The proposed Board structure envisages a mix of senior government officials and eminent professionals in the field of real estate, banking, investment banking, construction, legal and related fields. The Board is expected to have necessary experience and expertise to steer the functioning of the NLMC in a professional manner. An eminent professional would be appointed as the Chairman of the Board, the Minister stated.

Incorporation of NLMC is underway which is being steered by Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance, the Minister stated.

Cuttack ROC penalty order for violation of Section 92 & 137 of CA 2013 in the matter of KKDIL Nidhi Limited (Order dated 23rd March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Company Law, Legal awareness

Cuttack ROC penalty order for violation of Section 92 & 137 of CA 2013 in the matter of KKDIL Nidhi Limited (Order dated 23rd March 2022)

✒️ On the basis of Supplementary Inspcction Report under Section 206(5) of the CA, 2013 the Directorate directed ROC to take action under Section 92(5) and 137(3) of the Act for violation of Section 92(4) and 137(1) of the Act. Accordingly, ROC initiated Adjudication proceedings.

✒️ ROC order -. The offence is of serious nature since non-filing of Annual Accounts by the Company put itself out of reach of stakeholders/regulatory authorities and other concerned. The object of filing of Annual Return of company with the Public Domain is in the public interest, to enable the investors, public and whosoever interested in the company can access the fundamental information about the company and its management. Non-filing of this statutory return will result in denial of information to public about the company

✒️ The object of filing Financial Statements of a company with MCA Portal is to enable the interested public/investors/statutory agencies to access and know about the company’s state of affairs. The financial statements of a company so filed shall give a be and fair view of the state of affairs of the company. The said statements will become documents of public domain and the interested public can access the said statcments through MCA website to know the financial state of affairs of the company as on that date.

✒️ Total Penalty imposed: Rs. 32,42,600/-

Regards,
Bipul Kumar

Guidelines for Fire and Safety Audit

Posted on by Business So Simple in Public Affairs

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had prepared an “Integrated Guidance Framework for Chemicals Safety in Respect of the Isolated Storages and Industries Covered Under Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals (MSIHC) Rules, 1989” in compliance with the directions of the Hon’ble Green Tribunal dated 11.06.2021 in the matter of Original Application no. 60/2021. The framework covers chemical accident scenarios like spillages/ leakages of hazardous chemicals, fire, explosion or other incidents arising out of handling of hazardous chemicals and provides guidance to industrial units on conducting safety audits in adherence to Indian Standard, IS:14489:2018 – Code of Practice on Occupational Safety & Health Audit. The guidance mandates that competent agencies, duly accredited by the Accreditation Board of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, can only undertake safety audits. In case of absence of such accreditation, the competent agencies must possess the approval of Chief Inspector of Factories (CIFs) appointed under Factories Act, 1948 to undertake safety audits.

The CIFs of State/ Union Territories (State/ UTs)are nodal agencies to ensure operational safety at chemical industrial units. As per the provisions of MSIHC Rules, 1989, the CIFs can issue improvement notice under Rule 19 to industries for contravening its provisions including failure in safety audit, and ask them to comply with prescribed measures within 45 days. The details of industrial companies that failed in safety audit along with action taken against such companies is maintained at State/UT level by CIFs.

To prevent industrial accidents and chemical emergencies, the MSIHC Rules, 1989 prescribe for undertaking safety audits, preparation of on-site emergency plans by industries, preparation of off-site emergency plans by district authorities and carry out mock drills for assessing preparedness. To support States/ UTs in dealing with industrial disasters, the MoEFCC and CPCB has been providing technical support in the form of precautionary advisories, chemical safety framework and sharing technical recommendations on operation of industries dealing with hazardous chemicals.

This information was given by Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change in Lok Sabha today.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Press Release 28 March 2022

Illegal Dumping of E-Waste

Posted on by Business So Simple in Legal awareness

The import and export of hazardous and other wastes is regulated under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 notified by the Ministry. Government had banned import of e-waste in the country by listing e-waste in the Schedule VI (Basel No. A1180) of the said rules.

As per the information provided by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, there were a total 29 cases of illegal import of e-waste detected across the country in the last 3 years including current years. The details are at Annexure-I. CBIC, further informed that all field formations and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) under CBIC keep constant vigil to check illegal import of e-waste into India and take action in accordance with law whenever such contraventions are noticed.    

The management of e-waste in the Country is regulated under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016. Under the said Rules, the responsibility of disposal of e-waste in a scientific and environmentally sound manner has been assigned to Producers of notified Electrical & Electronic Equipment (EEE) as listed in Schedule – I of the said rules under the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Under EPR regime producers of EEE, have given annual e-waste collection and recycling targets based on the generation from the previously sold EEE or based on sales of EEE as the case may be.

The compliance monitoring is done through Action Plan developed by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for enforcement of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 in the Country. The major action points include identification of Non-EPR Authorization producers, State/UT wise inventorization of e-waste, verification of system provided by producers for e-waste channelization, verification of facilities of dismantlers/ recyclers, drives for checking informal activities, formulation of State Level Committee for monitoring implementation of rules and mass awareness activities etc. Under the action plan, monitoring and compliance of producers are ensured through Sate Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees. Further, under the existing rules, provisions are in place for action against the companies who are violating the said rules.

This information was given by Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change in Lok Sabha today.

Annexure – I

Table: State-wise cases of Illegal Shipment and dumping of e-waste

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1810575&RegID=3&LID=1