Those who have not yet been vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus will find it difficult to purchase a term life policy, as companies such as Max Life and Tata AIA are now requiring mandatory Covid-19 vaccine certificates for term life insurance buyers, and other insurers are likely to follow suit, according to the report.
In a country with already inadequate insurance coverage, purchasing a safety net has grown more expensive, with premiums rising as a result of an increase in claims caused by virus infections.
Max Life only issues term insurance to persons over the age of 45 who can present their final vaccination certificates, while Tata AIA only issues coverage to individuals who have had their first shot, regardless of age, as per the report.
Customers who have been vaccinated and want to get health insurance can get up to a 5% discount from Reliance General Insurance.
While it is a positive step from the insurer’s perspective, it will have a detrimental impact on those who have not yet been immunized. This could be due to a vaccine scarcity, and if a final vaccination certificate is required, a person will have to wait 84 days before receiving the second dose. In a country of 1.38 billion people, only 23.28 crore people had fired their first shot as of Monday.
Some insurers, including ICICI Prudential, Tata AIA, and Aegon Life, have implemented a seven to fifteen-day “cooling off period” following vaccination. New policy applications are temporarily postponed.
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‘iMobile Pay’ is ICICI Bank’s mobile banking application whose revamped version is now being used by two million customers of other banks pan India. The bank has reached this figure in a span of just five months after making ‘iMobile Pay’ open to all, including customers of other banks.
ICICI Bank opened its mobile banking platform ‘iMobile Pay’ to customers of all banks in December 2020. It was a first-in-the-industry initiative that provided the significant convenience of interoperability, as it enabled users of any bank to link their account to the app and begin transacting digitally. It also offered them access to an entire range of ICICI Bank services including savings account, home loan, credit card, personal loan among others.
“ICICI Bank has always believed in introducing innovations that simplify banking for customers. In line with this philosophy, the ICICI Bank was the first to introduce a mobile banking app in the country in 2008, called ‘iMobile’. The Bank has transformed the app and renamed it ‘iMobile Pay’ five months ago to offer interoperability so that anyone, including customers of other banks, can experience the benefits of hassle-free payments and digital banking of ICICI Bank through this app. This was made possible by leveraging NPCI’s interoperable infrastructure.” said Bijith Bhaskar, Head- Digital Channels & Partnership, ICICI Bank in a statement.
“Many customers are entering into a new relationship with the Bank after downloading the app. They are opening savings accounts and applying for a credit card, home loan and personal loan among others.” he added.
The ‘pay to contact’ feature enables the customers to send money either to a mobile number or a UPI ID of their contacts, who are registered on any payment app or a digital wallet. In addition to this, features like ‘scan to pay’, bill payments, ‘check balance’ have seen maximum usage, as quoted by the bank. It has also added bill payment services on the app, to enable payments for DTH, utility services such as electricity, gas and water, FASTag recharge (including that of other banks), insurance and mobile postpaid among others.
Over 20 lakh customers of other banks are now using ICICI Bank’s revamped mobile banking app.
“The bank has paced to the milestone in a span of just five months after making iMobile Pay open to all, including customers of other banks,” ICICI Bank said in a statement on Tuesday.
Trends reveal that customers are using features such as pay to contact, bill payments and scan to pay.
ICICI Bank had opened its mobile banking platform to customers of all banks in December last year.
“The bank has transformed the app and renamed it ‘iMobile Pay’ five months ago to offer interoperability so that anyone, including customers of other banks, can experience the benefits of hassle-free payments and digital banking of ICICI Bank through this app. This was made possible by leveraging NPCI’s interoperable infrastructure,” said Bijith Bhaskar, Head – Digital Channels and Partnership, ICICI Bank.
The app has seen an encouraging response from metro cities and leading state capitals including New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Patna, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, among others.
According to a PTI source, city-based UCO Bank is providing individuals who have taken at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination a 30 basis point (bps) higher rate on 999-day fixed deposits. “We are also taking minor steps to encourage vaccination drives. We are offering UCOVAXI-999… for a limited period till September 30,” a bank official stated. UCO Bank also stated on its Twitter account that “Are you #vaccinated? #UCOBank introduces #UCOVAXI999, an attractive Fixed Deposit Scheme for the Vaccinated Individuals! Contact nearby Branch for details! T&C Apply!.” If an investor is vaccinated and deposits in UCO Bank Fixed Deposit for 999 days or above 2 Years up to 3 Years then he or she will get an interest rate of 5.3% respectively under the UCOVAXI-999 scheme of the bank. But in case the investor is not yet vaccinated, then he or she will get the applicable rate of 5.00% only for the same period.
Immune India Deposit Scheme of Central Bank of India
In a bid to encourage its customers to get vaccinated, the Central Bank of India has also recently launched a new fixed deposit scheme called “Immune India Deposit Scheme” which is in force from 13.04.2021. An existing customer who has taken at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine with proof of it will be eligible for the scheme. For the general public, senior citizens, staff, ex-staff, and senior citizen ex-staff, the scheme will be offered in MIDR, QIDR, MMDC, and FDR. The deposit must be made for 1111 days and no deposit for a longer or shorter period will be allowed under the scheme. A deposit can be made under this scheme by making an initial contribution of Rs 1000 up to a ceiling of Rs 2 Cr. Immune India Deposit Scheme – for individuals who are vaccinated, an additional interest rate of 25 basis points (bps) above the applicable card rate is offered. As a result, the scheme’s rate of interest will be 5.35 per cent, subject to change. Senior citizens, on the other hand, are eligible for additional interest as applicable. The Scheme is only valid until December 31, 2021. Premature withdrawal is permitted, and the applicable rate of interest for the deposit period will be provided, subject to the regulations regulating premature withdrawal. The bank has stated some guidelines on its official website that “Branch will ensure that customer provides any satisfactory proof of getting administered a jab of any COVID-19 vaccine. Branch will note down reference ID of Vaccination or keep in record hard copy of certificate to this effect.” Eligible customers can also collect the Deposit Receipt generated under this scheme online by applying and providing the COVID-19 vaccination reference ID on online platforms of the bank. As with other Term Deposit Schemes, an OD facility against this deposit, a Nomination Facility, and a Joint Account facility (if the first holder meets the Scheme’s rules) are allowed.
What should you do?
Fixed deposits are unquestionably among the strongest short-term and long-term investment possibilities. They provide a high rate of return, flexible tenor and liquidity options. Though fixed deposits are primarily for risk-averse investors, the new schemes mentioned above may be a smart choice for you if you have a short-term goal, and you have been vaccinated. If a higher return is all that matters, you can still invest in savings accounts, recurring deposits, debt, or large-cap mutual funds.
Fixed Deposits may be withdrawn at any point of time, and though you may not get the pledged interest, as a result, they are called liquid assets since they may be liquidated at any moment. Bank FDs are simple to liquidate, meaning that you can break your FD before it matures. Unfortunately, a penalty may be imposed, and the amount of the penalty differs from one bank to the next. In the instance of tax-saving FDs, you can withdraw before the 5-year term expires. If we take liquidity risk as an example, customers need to pay a penalty of 0.50 per cent across all maturities for premature withdrawals from SBI FDs up to Rs 5 lakh. The bank has set the penalty for premature withdrawals from SBI fixed deposits of more than Rs 5 lakh but less than Rs 1 crore at 1% for all tenure. On deposits that are kept for less than 7 days, no interest will be provided.
Bank default risk
In case of a bank default, an investor is solely insured by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). Savings accounts, fixed deposits (FD), current accounts, recurring deposits (RD), and other deposits are covered by DICGC’s insurance. Each depositor at a bank is covered up to a total of Rs 5 lakh for both principal and interest amounts, according to DICGC norms. If you have a fixed deposit in the same bank as a joint holder with your spouse, brother, or children, or if you open an FD as a guardian of a minor, and so on, all of these FDs will be regarded as maintained in a different capacity and right, and each account will be insured up to Rs 5 lakh individually. The DICGC insures all commercial banks in India, including foreign banks, local area banks, and regional rural banks and cooperative banks. The DICGC, on the other hand, does not cover deposits in primary cooperative societies. Furthermore, deposits in any NBFC, HFC, or corporate entity are not covered by DICGC. However, one should keep in mind that if you have deposited Rs 5 lakhs in a fixed deposit, you will only be paid for the principal amount, not the interest earned on the deposits if your bank collapses and if the total amount of the principal and accumulated interest is less than Rs 5 lakh, you would be paid the whole amount.
Inflation Risk
FD returns can often be on par with or even less than inflation, resulting in wealth destruction for the holder. Fixed deposit investors must pay extra attention to their asset allocation under the context of rising inflation and dropping interest rates, especially for those in the highest tax bracket. Even though many people consider volatility to be a concern while investing in mutual funds, inflation must be considered a significant risk when investing in fixed-income securities like fixed deposits. When evaluating returns on your deposit, it’s crucial to keep inflation in mind and understand the distinction between estimated returns and real returns. When it comes to fixed deposits, banks’ interest rates rarely surpass inflation. Furthermore, when interest income is taxed, fixed deposit returns especially in long-term deposits may go down below the inflation rate. To stay ahead of the interest rate advantage, it is preferable to invest in a short-term fixed deposit. Short-term depositors in lower tax brackets may be unaffected by inflation.
Interest Rate Risk
Bank FDs have the potential of locking you in for a lengthy period of time at a poor rate of return. For a long time, most banks have been reducing their FD rates. If you’re a fixed-income investor who relies on interest rate return, you’ll have to face hardship if you invested in a 5-year lock-in period. By considering interest rate risk, you will not gain if interest rates rise in the economy since you are locked into the FD at the present rate which is not a good sign for any investor. But if you have a 5% FD and market rates drop by 1%, you will effectively gain since you will be generating more than the market. To mitigate the interest rate risk of a fixed deposit, split your investments into different amounts and invest them for different periods of time. Splitting your deposit will protect you from interest rate swings while also providing you with greater returns.
The objective of this project is to provide all of the country’s farmers with a monetary cushion in the form of a monthly pension. This programme is available to all farmers over the age of 60 who are registered under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme.
Under the PM Kisan Maandhan Yojana, any farmer between the ages of 18 and 40 can participate. He is required to contribute in part until he reaches the age of 60.You can take advantage of this design, which contains only 2 hectares of cultivable land. The Village Level Entrepreneur must contribute an initial monetary investment.
How to Register for PM Kisan Maandhan Yojana online?
tep 1: Visit https://maandhan.in/ and
Step 2: look for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana
Step 3: Click Self enrollment
Step 4: Enter OTP
What is the monthly contribution for PM Kisan pension scheme?
The monthly contribution ranges from Rs 55 to Rs 200. Farmers who reach the age of 60 will receive a monthly pension of 3000 rupees or a yearly pension of 36000 rupees under this program.
PM Kisan Mandhan Yojana offline registration
Farmers who want to participate in the program must go to their nearest Common Service Centre (CSC). Details such as the Aadhaar Card Number and IFSC Code of Savings Bank Account are required.
For authentication, the person will fill in the Aadhaar number, subscriber’s name, and date of birth as they appear on the Aadhaar card. After that, the system will determine the monthly payment due based on age. The first subscription fee will be paid in cash to the VLE by the subscriber. A Kisan Pension Account Number will be generated, as well as a Kisan Card.
Gold investors have gained pretty decent returns in the last 10-years in India. A mix of a rally in international prices and a falling rupee have propelled prices, resulting in pretty decent annualized returns to investors. Let’s take a look at the historical prices of gold in the last 10-years. In fact, gold has grown almost 10 times in the last 20-years.
Let’s take a look at the historical price movement of gold in India in the last 10-years. This is for 24 karats and reflects 10 grams. Prices are indicative and cannot be accurate.
Year
24-karats for 10-grams
2011
Rs 26,350
2012
Rs 31,025
2013
Rs 29,650
2014
Rs 28,000
2015
Rs 26,400
2016
Rs 28,700
2017
Rs 26,600
2018
Rs 31,400
2019
Rs 35,300
2020
Rs 48,800
2021
Rs 48,850
The big post covid jump in gold prices
For almost 6-years between 2011 and 2017, gold prices barely moved in India. Thereafter, there was some marginal traction, but the real gains were notched in 2020 and 2021, following the discovery of Covid-19 infections. Gold being a safe haven asset, investors took shelter in gold and international prices rallied. In India, gold for 24 karats hit a peak near the Rs 54,000 levels, after which there has been some dip.
The sharp run-up in the last two years has prompted lesser investment physically in the precious metal. In fact, demand for gold in countries like India has reduced considerably. Physical demand over the last 1-year has also been jolted by covid-19 cases. Investors across the globe continue to look to invest in gold ETFs, where there maybe reasonable demand going ahead.
What lies ahead for gold prices?
With the rally of the last 2-years, it’s unlikely that we will see any solid movement in the precious metal. In fact, our own belief is that there maybe a long period of stability in the precious metal. Gold requires a trigger like a geo-political tension or a covid to spark a rally. Interestingly, the global economy is gathering steam, which is good news for equities and not so for gold. At the moment, in the short to medium term, there are no triggers to spark a big rally in the precious metal.
In India, the rupee movement against the dollar plays a big role in the movement of gold. If the rupee depreciates against the dollar, it leads to gold prices going higher and vice versa.
The government of India in the Union Budget proposals this year announced a cut in import duty of gold. The government announced cut in customs duty on gold and silver to 7.5% from 12.5%. India imports bulk of its gold requirements and hence the cut in the duty, did make gold prices cheaper.
Gold price movement in 2021, 22 karats at the local jeweller
Price
Date
Rs 48, 940
Jan 1, 2021
Rs 48,450
Feb 1, 2021
Rs 44,940
March 1, 2021
Rs 43,370
April 1, 2021
Rs 44,170
May 1, 2021
Rs 46,900
June 1, 2021
As can be seen in the table above, the sharp fall in gold prices in the month of Feb and March was largely to do with the reduction in import duties of gold. Since then, gold in the international market has moved higher, which has pushed domestic markets higher. It’s likely that gold would hover in that range of Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000.
Much would depend on gold prices in the global markets, where movement of inflation in the US and rising bond yields pose a major risk to gold prices. All in all, if you are looking to buy gold, you may do so only on declines, as there maybe a little more downside left. If you are looking at consumption related buying, then there is no choice, but to go ahead and buy.
MUMBAI: The RBI on Monday imposed penalty aggregating to Rs 6 crore on Bank of India and Punjab National Bank for contravention of norms, including one related to “Frauds – Classification and Reporting”.
A penalty of Rs 4 crore has been imposed on Bank of India and Rs 2 crore on Punjab National Bank.
In a statement, the RBI said the statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (lSE) of Bank of India was conducted with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019.
The bank had also conducted a review and submitted a Fraud Monitoring Report (FMR) dated January 1, 2019 pertaining to detection of fraud in an account.
Examination of the risk assessment report pertaining to the ISE and the FMR revealed non-compliance with/contravention of directions, viz., breach of stipulated transaction limits; delay in transfer of unclaimed balances to DEA Fund; delay in reporting a fraud to RBI and sale of a fraudulent asset, the statement said.
In a separate statement, the Reserve Bank said the statutory ISE of Punjab National Bank was conducted with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2018 (ISE 2018) and March 31, 2019 (ISE 2019).
The examination of the risk assessment reports pertaining to ISE 2018 and 2019 revealed non-compliance with/contravention of the aforesaid directions, viz., delay in reporting of frauds and not ensuring data accuracy and integrity while submitting data on CRILC platform/ to RBI, it said.
In both cases, notices were issued to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on them for such violations of the directions.
The RBI, however, added that the penalties have been imposed based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and are not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into them with their customers.
The income tax agency inaugurated a new platform called e-filing 2.0 on Monday, which will make filing returns and paying taxes online much easier.
Taxpayers were also required to re-register their DSC (Digital Signature Certificate), update their personal mobile number and email ID under ‘primary contact,’ act on any pending action, and reply to any ‘outstanding demand,’ according to the tax department.
The I-T e-filing portal has approximately 8.46 crore individual registered users. For the Assessment Year 2020-21, almost 3.13 crore ITRs have been e-verified (the fiscal year 2019-20).
What are the details that can be updated on the Income tax website?
Source of Income details
Bank Account and Demat Account details
Register DSC
Contact details (through OTP authentication)
Personal Details
You can alter your basic profile details, such as Type of External Agency, Type of Services, PAN of Organization, TAN of Organization; contact info; manage certificates, update principal contact info, add or remove ERI, and alter ERI type, if you are logged in as an ERI.
You can update contact information, manage certificates, add or delete key personnel, and add or delete services if you are logged in as an External Agency.
You can update contact information, manage certificates, and update or add additional technical SPOC details if you are a TIN 2.0 stakeholder who is logged in.
What is a Secure Access Message?
A Secure Access Message is a customized message that serves as verification that the website you’ve visited is legitimate. After logging in, this can be changed in the profile section. Your secure access message is set to “login” by default for now.
How to Update Profile Details -Mobile Number, Email ID in New Income Tax Portal?
Step 1: Visit www.incometax.gov.in Step 2: Click on the Individuals/HUF tab Step 3: Enter your PAN in the Enter your User ID and click Continue. Step 4: Confirm your Secure Access Message. Step 5: Enter your Password and click Continue. Step 6: Once you Login Step 7: Select Update profile from the drop-down menu Step 8: Login using PAN/Aadhaar number. Step 9: Click on Profile Step 10: Enter details of mobile number, Email ID Step 11: Confirm the same
To check your status, go to your profile and click Register DSC. If the DSC for the PAN / Principal Contact is not registered or expired, a notification will be displayed in the profile after login for CA/Company/ERI.
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Story first published: Tuesday, June 8, 2021, 9:37 [IST]
