WazirX finds cryptocurrency Shiba Inu too hot to handle

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A record-breaking rally and frantic trading in meme-themed cryptocurrency Shiba Inu disrupted crypto exchange WazirX as its systems could not keep up with the volumes. Listed exclusively on WazirX in India, Shiba Inu is the 11th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $32 billion.

According to traders on WazirX, though the money was transferred from the bank, the orders could not get executed or once placed, they could not get cancelled. Also, those who traded on Wednesday did not get details of their transactions till Thursday morning.

“We are investigating the delays in the WazirX app and website. The team is working on scaling up the systems and will update as soon as it is fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience,” WazirX told its clients in a communication without giving any reason for the tech disruption.

When contacted, Nischal Shetty, CEO, WazirX said, “In the last 24 hours, WazirX clocked a trading volume of over $566 million. This is the highest volume recorded by any crypto exchange in India ever. We also witnessed an all-time high in terms of sign-ups, active traders and concurrent users. It’s over 40X of what we had seen before.”

Dream run

Shiba Inu has been on a dream run ever since Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum, donated around $1 billion (₹7,324 crore) worth of Shiba Inu coins to India’s Covid Crypto Relief Fund. Buterin is a Russian-Canadian programmer and writer, known to be close to Elon Musk.

Shiba Inu was founded in 2020 by an anonymous person going by the Japanese name Ryoshi who put it on the blockchain network to decentralise its operations.

The rally in Shiba Inu can be attributed to the petition on Change.org urging Robinhood, a trading platform, to list the meme-inspired currency. The petition has received more than three lakh signatures.

With inputs from

Debangana Ghosh

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RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das gets three years extension

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The Government has extended the term for Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das by three years. Now, his term will end in 2024.

He is 25th Governor. He was appointed on December 12, 2018 after sudden resignation of then Governor Urjit Patel.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the reappointment of Shri Shaktikanta Das, lAS Retd. (TN:80) as Governor, Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years beyond 10.12.2021 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” an order issued by Department of Personal and Training said.

Das is former Revenue Secretary and prior to his appointment in RBI, he was member of 15th Finance Commission and G20 Sherpa of India. He has vast experience in various areas of governance in the last 38 years. Shri Das has held important positions in the Central and State Governments in the areas of Finance, Taxation, Industries, and Infrastructure.

During his long tenure in the Finance Ministry, he was directly associated with the preparation of eight Union Budgets. He has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He has represented India in international fora like the IMF, G20, BRICS, SAARC, etc.

Das is a postgraduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University.

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Mobile payments growing faster than card payments

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Mobile payments in India are now growing faster than card payments as more consumers and businesses adopt digital payments amidst the pandemic, said the 2021 India Mobile Payments Market Report.

According to the report, payments made via apps that bypass credit card rails rose 67 per cent to $478 billion in 2020. They are clocking more than $1 trillion in annualised value in 2021.

“Payments handled by mobile devices are soaring in India, driven by the popularity of bank accounts as an in-app payment method,” said the report published by S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Financial Institutions Research team, adding that it expects mobile payments to continue to grow faster than cards due to growing consumer preference to use smartphones to pay.

By comparison, transactions completed using debit and credit cards, including online and in apps, fell 14 per cent to $170 billion in 2020. For banks, the ongoing pandemic shaved-off $524 million in credit card interchange revenue, as per its estimates, as consumers hunkered down amid lockdown measures.

“While most transactions handled by payment apps include peer-to-peer transactions, mobile payments are increasingly becoming a popular payment choice for retail transactions at the point of sale and online,” it further said.

It noted that demand for cash is slowing in the wake of rising mobile payment adoption. For each ATM withdrawal, Indians made 3.7 transactions using mobile phones in 2020. The report has also forecast that there continues to be room for rapid growth rates in digital payments in India in the next few years.

“Based on a review of instant payments in four large Asia-Pacific economies, India processed the highest number of real-time transactions in 2020,” it said, while noting that the country’s real-time transactions per capita of 16 in 2020 were the lowest in the group, which includes Australia, Thailand and Singapore.

Popular UPI apps

PhonePe and Google Pay continue to maintain their lead as the most popular UPI payment apps, with the two apps enjoying market shares of 44 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively, in the first six months of 2021, the report said. Together, the two apps handled more than 12 billion transactions worth $ 338 billion, it stated.

In contrast, Paytm and Amazon Pay accounted for just 14 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, of UPI transactions. The report, however, said that it does not expect the dominance of PhonePe and Google Pay in UPI to last indefinitely. The National Payments Corporation of India has set a cap of 30 per cent on UPI volumes and PhonePe and Google Pay are the only apps that currently exceed the cap and have until 2022 to comply with the rules, it said.

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UCO Bank posts five-fold rise in Q2 profit to ₹205 crore

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UCO Bank, which recently came out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) measure of Reserve Bank of India, registered over five-fold growth in net profit at ₹205 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2021, as compared with ₹30 crore same period last year.

According to Atul Kumar Goel, MD & CEO, UCO Bank, the growth in net profit was mainly on the back of a rise in net interest income and lower provisions.

Net interest income grew by 15 per cent to ₹1,598 crore during the quarter under review, as against ₹1,394 crore same period last year. Other income increased by 31 per cent to ₹936 crore (₹713 crore).

Provisions during the quarter came down by nearly 22 per cent to ₹1,019 crore (₹1,301 crore).

The bank came out of PCA in September this year following the compliance of norms by maintaining minimum regulatory capital, net NPA, and leverage ratio on an ongoing basis.

The operating profit increased by 24 per cent at ₹1,334 crore (₹1,076 crore).

Gross non-performing asset (NPA) as a percentage of total advances declined to 8.98 per cent (11.62 per cent). This is despite the fact that the bank recognised its exposure of close to ₹1,440 crore in three big accounts as NPA during the quarter under review. This includes around ₹1,000 crore in Srei Infrastructure and Srei Equipment Finance; around ₹190 crore in Delhi Metro and another ₹250 crore in a road project.

Net NPA came down to 3.37 per cent (3.63 per cent).

Provision coverage ratio (PCR) increased to 90.02 per cent as on September 30, 2021 from 89.82 per cent same period last year and from 88.53 per cent as on June 30, 2021.

RBI resolution framework

UCO Bank has restructured 2,067 accounts amounting to ₹1,356 crore under Resolution Framework 1.0 and another 51,512 accounts amounting to ₹2,705 crore under Resolution Framework 2.0 of RBI.

The bank’s domestic net interest margin improved marginally to 2.9 per cent (2.88 per cent) during the quarter under review. It expects NIM to further improve to around three per cent by the end of this fiscal.

UCO Bank, which grew its advances by around six per cent during the quarter under review, expects close to 10 per cent growth in loan book this fiscal aided by a steady pick up in demand.

“We are out of the Covid impact and there is good demand in retail, agriculture and corporate sectors. We are expecting 10 per cent growth in advances this fiscal,” Goel said.

The bank has also tied up with an NBFC in housing sector for co-lending model.

The bank’s scrip closed at ₹14.38, down by 2.04 per cent on the BSE on Thursday.

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RBL Bank Q2 net profit down 78.6%

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Private sector lender RBL Bank reported a 78.6 per cent drop in its standalone net profit for the second quarter of the fiscal on the back of higher provisions and lower interest income.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2021, the bank reported standalone net profit of ₹ 30.8 crore as against ₹144.16 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Its net interest income fell by two per cent on a year on year basis to ₹915 crore in the July to September 2021 quarter from ₹932 crore a year ago.

Net interest margin was also lower at 4.06 per cent as on September 30, 2021 from 4.34 per cent a year ago.

However, other income shot up by 42 per cent to ₹593 crore for the second quarter of the fiscal from ₹418 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Provisions jumped up by 33.6 per cent to ₹651.49 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal versus ₹487.56 crore a year ago.

Asset quality deteriorated

The bank’s gross non performing assets rose to ₹3,130.93 crore or 5.4 per cent of gross advances as on September 30, 2021 from 3.34 per cent a year ago. Net NPAs also increased to 2.14 per cent of net advances from 1.38 per cent as on September 30, 2020.

“The economic environment is bouncing back strongly as the pace of vaccination quickens in the country. Our bank is also confident of reverting to normalised levels of business, growth and profitability from the current (third) quarter itself and are on track to exit this financial year with strong profitability ratios setting us up well for 2022-23,” said Vishwavir Ahuja, Managing Director and CEO, RBL Bank.

The bank had a provision coverage ratio, excluding technical write-offs, of 61.7 per cent.

It had an exposure of ₹846.61 crore to accounts where it implemented restructuring under the Reserve Bank of India’s Resolution Framework 1.0 and ₹645.47 crore under Resolution Framework 2.0.

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Bajaj Finance Ltd. Launches Diwali campaign ‘EMI HAI NA’ with a bang, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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With the festive season transpiring in full swing, Bajaj Finance Ltd., in collaboration with Bajaj Finserv Direct Limited, has launched its Diwali campaign ‘EMI HAI NA’ to offer discounts and cashback on a wide range of products and brands purchased on EMI through the Bajaj Finserv EMI Store of Bajaj Finserv Direct Ltd. (www.emistore.com).

Customers can avail of discounts on a slew of electronic products, home appliances, smartphones, smartwatches, furniture, fitness equipment, home decor, accessories, kitchen appliances and much more with minimal down payment. The campaign concludes on the 15th of November 2021.

The campaign has a catchy jingle that addresses the common sentiments of most middle-class Indian consumers when they are faced with the choice of making high-value lifestyle purchases. With the ‘EMI HAI NA’ campaign, the brand enables every customer living in different cities to experience benefits for their shopping aspirations, anytime, anywhere. The campaign encompasses the essence of India being united by one mantra’- #EMIHAINA in the context of repayment of purchases through monthly installments.

Running LIVE across digital platforms, including Bajaj Finserv’s social media channels (like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube), audio streaming platforms (like Gaana, JioSaavn), radio, infotainment and other OTT channels, the brand has infused a 360-degree strategy to make “EMI HAI NA” synonymous with Bajaj Finserv’s affiliate companies, Bajaj Finance Ltd., and Bajaj Finserv Direct Ltd.

To increase momentum, the company has also created a virtual game where customers can participate in a challenge to score maximum points. The participants will get cashback rewards. The Bajaj Finserv EMI Store also promises a seamless experience through its network of reputed and trusted partners.

In addition to deals, discounts, offers, digital videos, games, dedicated webpage and 3rd party collaborations, the brand also aims to leverage the network of 43,000+ sellers across India, to reduce delivery time with other benefits such as minimal documentation and pre-approved loans*.

Customers can shop directly from their favourite store or online using their “Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Card”.

The campaign is also touted to offer customers to save via different curated rewards and promotions.

Finance is provided by Bajaj Finance Ltd. in its discretion and shall be governed by the loan terms and conditions. Rewards are subject to fulfilment of the promotion terms and conditions.

Bajaj Finance Limited, the lending arm of the Bajaj Finserv group, is one of the most diversified NBFCs in the Indian market, catering to more than 50 million customers across the country.

Headquartered in Pune, the company’s product offering includes Consumer Durable Loans, Lifestyle Finance, Digital Product Finance, Personal Loans, Loan against Property, Small Business Loans, Wallet, Co-branded Credit Cards, Two-wheeler and three-wheeler Loans, commercial lending/SME Loans, Loan against Securities and Rural Finance which includes Gold Loans and Vehicle Refinancing Loans along with Fixed Deposits.

Bajaj Finance Limited prides itself on holding the highest credit rating of AAA/Stable for long term borrowing, A1+ for the short term borrowing, and FAAA/Stable for FD program. It has also been credited for Long term issuer credit rating of BB+/Stable and short-term rating of B by S&P Global ratings for ECB.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)



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Finance ministry approves 8.5% return on PF deposits for FY21, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The finance ministry has given its go ahead to 8.5% rate of interest on provident fund deposit for 2020-21 paving way for the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation to credit the interest in accounts of over 60 million beneficiaries.

The move is expected to bring some cheer a week ahead of Diwali. Labour secretary Sunil Barthwal confirmed the development to ET. “Approval was received from the finance ministry today. It will be notified as soon as possible,” he said.

The labour ministry has to notify the interest rate for the year before EPFO starts crediting it into the beneficiary account.

The move is expected to leave EPFO with a surplus of Rs 300 crore compared to the preceding financial year when it had a surplus of Rs 1000 crore.

The central board of trustees of EPFO, headed by the labour minister, had in March this year approved the interest rate of 8.5% for 2020-21, same as the previous year. However, the labour ministry has to mandatorily seek approval from the finance ministry on the proposed rate. The process was fast tracked after top officials of the labour ministry met finance ministry officials earlier this month to address their queries and asked them to expedite the process.

The finance ministry has over the past few years questioned the higher rate of interest declared by EPFO year after year when the rate of interest for other government schemes including public provident fund or small saving schemes was much lower.

EPFO had pegged an income of around Rs 70,300 crore in the previous fiscal including around Rs 4,000 crore from selling a portion of its equity investments and Rs 65,000 crore from debt.

Based on this, its central board of trustees, headed by the labour minister, had recommended the interest rate of 8.5% for FY21. EPFO had retained the interest rate on PF deposits for 2020-21 same as 2019-20 despite the huge amount of Covid withdrawals from the retirement fund kitty since the scheme was announced last year.

EPFO has an active subscriber base of more than 60 million and every year it invests 15% of its annual accruals in equity and rest in debt instruments. However, since the outbreak of Covid millions of salaried class workers have lost jobs or have been working on reduced wages prompting them to withdraw from their retirement fund kitty under the Covid withdrawal scheme.



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Fresh tax notices to FPIs over capital gains, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The I-T department has asked multiple foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to cough up more taxes on their capital gains after denying set-off and tax treaty benefits, people aware of the development said. The notices were issued by the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) of the I-T department under Section 143(1) of the Income-tax Act.

The intimation under Section 143(1) informs taxpayers about initial assessments carried out by the tax department and points out discrepancies in tax filings, and demands additional taxes, if any.

Intimations demanding additional taxes primarily cited three reasons, the sources said. Either the FPIs have been disallowed to set off long-term capital gains against short-term capital losses, or the tax department has not taken tax treaties into consideration, or, in some cases, it has categorised short-term capital losses incurred by FPIs as gains, they claimed.

Many tax experts suspect that this could just be a technical glitch in the system, but even so the FPIs will now have to approach either the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) or litigate the matter.

“The law allows long-term capital gains to be set off against short-term capital losses,” said Rajesh H Gandhi, partner at Deloitte India. “If such set-offs are denied, it could result in significant tax demands for FPIs, requiring them to litigate the matter. Hopefully this is a technical glitch and would be rectified soon.”

In other cases, the tax department has not taken tax treaties into consideration while demanding tax from FPIs. All FPIs that are covered by India’s bilateral tax treaties and attract much lower taxes – of 10% to 15% – than if they are not protected through tax treaties.

In several other cases, the tax department has categorised short-term capital losses incurred by FPIs as gains, sources said. So, instead of getting deductions on such amounts, they have been asked to cough up taxes.

“Taxpayers have raised concerns with respect to the Centralised Processing Centre erroneously treating short-term capital loss as short-term capital gains and taxing the same,” said Sameer Gupta at EY India. “There have been other issues, too, around gains which were subject to tax at 50% of the domestic tax rate,” he said.

“The remedial measures adopted by taxpayers for the above include filing of rectification application and also parallelly seeking recourse through an appellate process,” Gupta said. ET could not independently verify whether the tax notices were a result of a technical glitch or change in stance or any other issue related to FPIs. An email query sent to the CBDT and the FM did not elicit any response as of press time Thursday.



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Indian Bank classifies 2 Srei grp a/cs as NPA, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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State-owned Indian Bank has classified two accounts of Srei Group, worth Rs 1,800 crore, as non-performing assets (NPAs) as on the September-ended quarter 2021. Its net profit has grown more than doubled at Rs 1,089 crore in the second quarter, as compared to Rs 412 crore in the same period last year.

Its MD & CEO Shanti Lal Jain said the profit was driven by growth in non-interest income, (other income), which grew by 26% YoY and 8% QoQ. “It stood at Rs 1,966 crore as against Rs 1,558 crore in the second quarter, on account of increase in recovery of bad debts and forex income,” Jain said.

However, the bank’s net interest income declined by 1% YoY and 2% QoQ to Rs 4,084 crore in the September quarter, 2021.

The public sector bank said we have recognized eight accounts as NPA (bad loans) worth Rs 1,900 crore, which are to be given to the National Asset Reconstruction Company (bad bank). He said “We have already made 50% of provisions for those eight accounts.”

Provisions and contingencies allocated to cover bad loans lowered to Rs 2,187 crore in this quarter, as against Rs 2,530 crore for the corresponding period last year, and Rs 2,234 crore sequentially.

Gross NPA ratio stood at 9.56% in September 2021, marginally lower from 9.89% in September, 2020. The net NPA ratio stood at 3.26%, higher from 2.96% in the same period.

The bank’s fresh slippages declined to Rs 3,952 crore compared to Rs 4,204 crore in the June quarter. Fresh slippage was high due to Corporate loans and crop loans.



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Uco Bank posts 7-fold jump in Q2 net, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Public sector lender Uco Bank has reported a seven-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 205.3 crore for the second quarter this fiscal from Rs 30.1 crore for the same period last fiscal.

The city-based lender, which recently came out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) measure of Reserve Bank of India, has witnessed a significant improvement in its asset quality during the second quarter despite the fact that it recognized its exposure of around Rs 1,000 crore in Srei Infrastructure Finance and Srei Equipment Finance as non-performing assets (NPAs).

The Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) earlier this month gave its approval to start insolvency proceedings against Srei Infrastructure Finance and its wholly-owned subsidiary Srei Equipment Finance after the Reserve Bank of India had filed insolvency applications against the two non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

Uco Bank MD & CEO AK Goel, without mentioning the name of Srei, said, “It will be very premature to talk about the bad loan recovery from these two NBFCs. But we will remain optimistic that a good recovery should come (through insolvency resolution process).”

During the second quarter, the bank’s NPAs in absolute terms fell 3.6% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 10,909.7 crore from Rs 11,321.7 crore in the first quarter this fiscal. The Gross NPA ratio during the quarter under review declined 39 basis points sequentially at 8.9%.



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