Top Headlines: India on digital services tax, RBI moots UPI payments charge

India and other developing countries under the G24 grouping have objected to the proposal of making sovereign commitments to not introduce any future digital services tax like equalisation levy. On the other hand, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought feedback from stakeholders on the possibility of imposing a “tiered” charge on payments made through the UPI. Read more on these in our top headlines.

India won't make sovereign commitment on future digital services tax

In a move that could delay the implementation of a global tax deal, India and other developing countries under the G24 grouping have objected to the proposal of making sovereign commitments to not introduce any future digital services tax like equalisation levy. The developing countries are of the view that any commitment to not enact future measures should be in the nature of political commitments only. Read more

Centre to monetise The Ashok Hotel; Samrat to be retained by ITDC

The Centre will license out The Ashok Hotel through the operate-maintain-develop (OMD) mode for a period of 60 years, and monetise its spare land in New Delhi for commercial development and making luxurious service apartments through public-private partnership (PPP). Hotel Samrat — separated from The Ashok by a boundary wall in New Delhi— will be retained by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). Read more

RBI moots 'tiered' charge on payments through UPI, seeks public feedback

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought feedback from stakeholders on the possibility of imposing a “tiered” charge on payments made through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), based on different amount bands. The RBI’s discussion paper on charges in payment systems, released on Wednesday, seeks to structure its policies and streamline the framework of charges for different payment services or activities. Read more

HDFC Bank may introduce credit scores for third-party vendors

HDFC Bank is in preliminary talks with leading cyber-security companies to introduce cyber-security scores for its third-party vendors and minimise the incidence of fraud, Chief Information Security Officer Sameer Ratolikar said. Some of the companies the bank is in discussion with include Bitsight, Upguard and RiskRecon, all of which are in the cyber-security rating space. Read more
 

Private good, public loss: PSEs have been losing mkt share to private peers

In the United Kingdom, the contest among Conservative candidates for the party’s top post centres on apportioning the legacy of their late leader Margaret Thatcher. Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor, has promised to slash taxes as Thatcher did as prime minister. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has started dressing like Thatcher. India has its version of Thatcher’s policies, wherein the state is either monetising or privatising assets to achieve the goal of minimum government. Read more