Air India Express Sends Termination Letters To Protesting Crew; RBI Warns NBFCs On Gold Loan Limits

Air India Express Issues Termination Letters After Flash Protest 

After the cancellation of 91 flights since Tuesday, Air India Express has issued termination letters to several agitating employees among the over 100 cabin crew members who did not report for duty as a form of protest, the Business Standard reported. 

In the termination letter, the airline stated the cabin crew members reporting sick at about the same time pointed to a premeditated and concerted abstention from work. Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) are both subsidiaries of the Tata Group-owned Air India and are merging operations to create a unified low-cost airline. Last month, Vistara, which is also merging with Air India, cancelled 10 per cent of its flights.  Read more  

RBI Allows Bank Of Baroda’s BoB World App To Onload New Customers

The Reserve Bank of India has allowed Bank of Baroda to onboard new customers through its Bob World app, more than six months after it imposed restrictions following material supervisory concerns, the Economic Times reported. 

The RBI had imposed restrictions on the bank on October 10, 2023 and lifted it via a letter dated May 8, 2024, the bank said in a regulatory filing.  Last week, the RBI had lifted restrictions on Bajaj Finance on sanctioning and disbursal of loans through eCOM and Insta EMI Card. Earlier, the RBI had imposed restriction on Kotak Mahindra Bank from onboarding new customers via online and mobile banking platforms and to stop issuing fresh credit cards with immediate effect following scrutiny. More here 

High Net-Worth Individuals Get Income Tax Notices For Investment In SPACs

High net-worth Indians betting on special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are getting notices from the Income Tax department, the Economic Times reported. 

On the back of information shared by Bermuda, which like the Cayman Islands, is a preferred jurisdiction for incorporating SPACs, the Income Tax department has served notices to at least four people in the last 10 days.

SPACs are formed solely to raise capital by inviting investors in a pre-listing offering with the aim to acquire a stake in an existing, primarily unlisted, operating company. SPACs, which became popular in 2019-20, caught the attention of several Indian HNIs searching for new investment avenues. More here

Don’t Breach Rs 20,000 Cap On Loans, RBI Cautions NBFCS

The Reserve Bank of India has warned non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) from extending gold loans breaching the Rs 20,000 cap on cash loan disbursal, the Business Standard reported.

While issuing the advisory, the central bank referred to the provisions of the Section 269 SS of Income Tax Act, 1961, that stipulates no individual can receive more than Rs 20,000 as loan amount in cash. Gold loan NBFCs have been advised to strictly adhere to the provisions of the IT Act. In March, the RBI had barred IIFL Finance from sanctioning and disbursing fresh gold loans following material supervisory concerns and to protect the interests of customers. More here

Supreme Court Says Interest-Free Loans From Banks To Staff Taxable

The Supreme Court has ruled that interest-free or concessional loans given by banks to their employees will be taxable, the Economic Times reported.  

The bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said such benefits enjoyed by bank employees are unique to them and are in the nature of a perquisite, and hence liable to taxation. Staff unions and officers' associations of various banks had challenged the constitutionality of Section 17(2)(viii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Rule 3(7)(i) of the Income Tax Rules 1962, which defines perquisites. They contended Rule 3(7)(i) was arbitrary and violated Article 14 of the Constitution by treating SBI’s prime lending rate as the benchmark. More here 

Individual Taxpayer Beats Corporate Taxpayer For The Second Time In A Row

Individual taxpayers have contributed more to the government’s direct tax coffers than businesses for the second year in a row, Livemint reported. 

Data from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) showed that the wafer-thin gap between the two has significantly widened. In 2023-24, personal income tax accounted for 53.31 per cent of direct tax receipts, against 46.52 per cent from corporate tax collections. In 2022-23, their shares were 50.08 per cent and 49.63 per cent, respectively.

The break-up is in line with countries such as the US, Canada and the UK, where personal income tax contributes more to the exchequer than corporate tax revenue. More here