Mistake in your Medical report while taking Term Plan

What happens when your hospital goofs up and your term plan premium goes up because of that mistake? When you take a term plan, the insurance company either asks you to take up medical test in some hospital or a doctor comes to your home and does the checkup. Things mostly go well and at times some kind of health issue comes up, and you say

“Ahh … you say, I didn’t know there was this issue, Thank God! a medical test was done.”

Then the insurance company increases the premium because there was some issue in yourmedical report. You pay the increased premium, feeling secure now that things are black and white. But, what if the medical report was wrong because of some mistake the hospital made? What if there was a TYPING Error? Yes! It happens and we have a real life experience today.

Nitin shared his experience on our Question and Answer forum while buying his term plan from HDFC and Aviva. Below are his experiences

Experience while buying HDFC Click2Protect

After some analysis I found below 2 plans suitable for my term insurance needs:

• HDFC Click2Protect
• AVIVA i-Life

After considering some factors, I had chosen HDFC Click2Protect and applied for it. My medical test has been performed in 4-5 days. Few days later I got notification from HDFC that my proposal is postponed because of ‘elevated level in my blood sugar’. It was a shocking news for me because I am a healthy person and never had any problem (touch wood). I called hospital people (where my medical check-up was conducted) and after request they informed me that my sugar level count is 173 (normally it should be between 70-100). I still not believed that and went for medical check-up again by myself and found sugar level count is 72(which is normal).

Then I decided to go for AVIVA i-life plan and applied for the policy. Fortunately/Unfortunately, my medical examination was scheduled at same hospital, where it was conducted before for HDFC. This time I carried my medical report (which I had done by myself) and asked hospital about the reason for differences in both reports. According to their report my count was 173 & according to my report count was 75. They checked again and found that it was a TYPING MISTAKE, actual count was 73 but they wrote it 173 by mistake.

Now, because of this mistake HDFC postponed my application & also my insurance records gets affected. Hospital GM apologies for the mistake and sent clarification note to HDFC about the mistake. Currently, my AVIVA application is under processing.

Lesson Learnt & Message DON’t trust on any medical report if it looks surprised for you. Please double check it with multiple doctors or Hospital if you think it is not correct and challenge it.

After this incident, he went for Aviva Term plan and the same kind of issue happened this time also. Below is the experience.

Experience while buying Aviva Term Plan

My medical examination for AVIVA ilife plan happened in same hospital (where I had for HDFC C2P plan). After few days, I got information from AVIVA that they have raised my premium by 50% because of ‘Increased liver enzymes’ in my body and waiting for the balance payment to issue a policy. It’s again a shocking news for me, since I didn’t expect it this time. But the good thing is that AVIVA has shared my medical report with me. I checked with 2-3 doctors about my report and according to them this increase in liver enzymes is possible for those people who drink alcohol or having fever in last 1 months.

But for my case, I don’t take alcohol nor having any fever in last months, so doctor suspect that this time also report may be not correct. So again, I went for a medical test (only for Liver part this time) by myself and found that my liver report is NORMAL (as expected). I informed AVIVA about the same and also shared my Normal medical report. After 2-3 days, finally got mail today that they have issued my policy without any extra premium. Hmmmmm……buying aonline term insurance looks like winning a war for me.

Important Points Regarding Medical Tests

• Make sure you do minimum 12 hours of Fast before the medical tests
• After doing the medical tests, check if you can get the medical test copies or at least the results
• For any point you are concerned about, better take a second opinion from another clinic
• If possible, go for medical tests once again at your own cost to double check if you suspect anything

Do not close your Loans – If you want to improve your credit score!

Do you have a loan and want to close it as soon as possible? I know the answer is YES! . Everybody wants to get rid of debt and want to enjoy a debt free life. But, what if I give you a good enough reason to not close your loan and keep paying your EMI on time? And if I suggest you do that even if you have a lot of spare cash which you can use for paying of the loan. Lets see …

There are many people who are paying their previous loans, but when they apply for some new loan, its getting rejected because they have some bad credit record in past either due to settlement of some debt or because they have a bad payment record. This creates a very frustrating atmosphere, where you want to do something which you instantly make you a “good” customer. A big myth people have is that just because they have a loan going on, they are having a bad credit score, and because of this myth, they want to close off their existing loan.

However this is not true! Let’s see an incident which happened with Nagarajan

I was holding two home loans since 2000. I am a well paid professional drawing good salary, however due to frequent transfers my Post dated cheques were not replenished resulting in non-payment for over 6 months, Also due to some signature error a few times, cheque bounces happened, but they were repaid and corrected .

I dont posses any credit card. only debit cards were used regularly for any financial transactions. 6 months back a personal loan enquiry got rejected due to very bad credit score ( 450 only). so immediately I wound up all the loans ( 4 months ago). now I am loan free and no credit card holder. how long will it take to recover my credit scores ?

You would see how Nagarajan closed his loan thinking that his loan eligibility would increase because his credit score will improve. However what he did was totally wrong and the right thing was to just continue paying his existing loan. Lets see why.

Paying EMI regularly is a Opportunity to show your repayment capability

If you look a little deeper, you’d realize that your existing EMI payment is one of the only ways you can showcase your repayment capability. When you make EMI payment on time, this information is updated to credit bureau (CIBIL etc) by your existing lender and if done on a regular basis, it affects your credit score in positive way and also improves your credit report . Your Days Past Due (DPD) section in CIBIL report also gets positive because your recent information for last 36 months is there in the credit report.

So now I hope you are clear about the importance of paying your EMI on time on regular basis. Its one of the only ways you can build your repayment record and improve your credit score. Do you have a credit card or some kind of loan? If yes, then it might make sense to keep paying their dues on time just for making sure that you build your repayment history!

LIC fined Rs1 lakh for denying claim arbitrarily

The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum observed that LIC had “misdirected itself” by not showing any evidence that the deceased was suffering from asthma prior to availing the policy and had not “applied its mind” while denying his claim

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has been directed by a Delhi based consumer forum to pay Rs1 lakh to the husband of a policyholder for ‘arbitrarily’ rejecting his claim for the assured amount on his wife’s death.

The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum observed that LIC had “misdirected itself” by not showing any evidence that the deceased was suffering from asthma prior to availing the policy and had not “applied its mind” while denying his claim. LIC had denied the claim saying the woman was an asthma patient and had not disclosed her illness while taking the policy.

It had relied on a discharge summary of 2004 to reject the claim.

“We have considered the material on record and submission made. It is patent that the opposite party (LIC) has misdirected itself. It has not brought any evidence of deceased suffering from asthma before taking of policy in 2003 or any record of taking treatment.

“The discharge summary of 2004 is of no use. It shows trouble for 4-5 days in 2004 and not before taking policy in 2003. Opposite party has not applied its mind. We hold it guilty of deficiency in service by arbitrarily repudiating the claim,” a bench presided by CK Chaturvedi said.

It directed LIC to pay the sum insured of Rs50,000 along with “punitive damages” of Rs50,000 to Delhi resident Dev Raj whose wife had died in December 2005. The forum also directed LIC to obtain half of the damages from salary of the officer concerned “who gave no attention to the appeal and agreed for repudiating the claim”.

Raj, in his complaint, had said that his wife had obtained the policy for Rs50,000 from LIC in 2003 and under it she was covered till 2005, but the insurance firm had rejected his claim on the ground that she was an asthma patient.

Finance ministry withdraws its controversial diktat to levy processing fees on payment of credit card dues by cheque or cash

Moneylife Impact: The finance ministry’s strange and controversial diktat to public sector banks to emulate HDFC Bank and levy processing charges onpayment of credit card dues by cash or cheque was exposed and followed by Moneylife alone. The rest of the media, including the business press is still silent on this issue

In a letter dated 12^th March, the finance ministry has quietly withdrawn its ‘fatwa’ to “consider charging a processing fee from customers paying credit card dues either in cashor through cheque”.  In fact, this letter too is written by the same DD Maheshwari, Under Secretary at the Department of Financial Services, who sent out a fatwa marked “most immediate” to all chief executives of public sector banks on 25 October 2012. This time he writes that the letter “stands withdrawn with immediate effect. This has the approval of the Secretary (FS)”.(see letter here)


The finance ministry’s decision to withdraw the letter is a very positive development from the customer’s point of view. It not only means that banks will not be charging this absurd processing fee, but also reveals that the finance ministry is sensitive to public opinion. Our report (Read: Now, penalty for paying credit card dues by cheque! ) had created a furore among depositors and has been the most read, most shared and most commented article on www.moneylife.in for the past fortnight. So what was the anger about?
 

Well, the finance ministry had not only asked for such a processing fee to be levied, but held HDFC Bank as the example to emulate. It specifically mentioned how HDFC Bankhad doubled its charges for cash transactions from Rs50 to Rs100 per transaction. It had also asked banks CEOs to report their action taken to the ministry.
 

What was particularly outrageous about the finance ministry’s micro-management of fees charged by banks was that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is the bankingregulator, is in the process of ‘considering’ the comments to a similar report that it had issued on “dis-incentivising cheque transactions” by levying a slew of fees and charges on everybody who issues or deposits a cheque. Please read RBI Must Scrap No Cheque Idea, which is the most commented article in Moneylife since then.
 

Moneylife Foundation, our sister entity which has over 21,500 members, had sent a strong memorandum to the RBI asking it to scrap the report in toto. (Moneylife Foundation demands scrapping of the move to penalise usage of cheques ). We have since learnt from another activist that the RBI has received at least 300 representations against this plan. In fact, leading NGOs in Mumbai are scheduled to meet on 21st March to discuss a joint plan to oppose such a move. Those who are attending the meeting include the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, All India Bank Depositors Association, Consumer Guidance Society of India, Moneylife Foundation, Council for Fair Business Practices, Consumer Complaints Cell and Save Our Lands. The All India Bank Employees Association is also participating in the discussion.
 

Moneylife columnist Gurpur, a senior banker, had also pointed out how a country like the United Kingdom had bowed to public pressure given up the idea of abolishing cheque usage. See UK govt bows to public pressure—rejects abolition of cheque system. Will RBI follow suit?  And even superpowers like the US, who are way ahead of India in terms of adoption of information technology, continue to use cheques.

IRDA guidelines impact commission and surrender value of traditional products

The insurance regulator’s guidelines will see a push for selling policies with a term of 12 years or more as it keeps the intermediary commission intact. Surrender value is improved, but it may not be enough considering the gap with ULIP surrender value. Nothing much to cheer for consumers

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has issued guidelines, effective October 2013, for life insurance policies which will have an impact on the commission and surrender value of traditional products (endowment, money-back, whole-life and term plans). Short-term policies will have a lower commission than traditional products with a policy term of 12 years or more. There was no such differentiation till now with agents getting 35%-40% of the first year premium as commission. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) agents will hold protest demonstrations in front of LIC branches across India on 20^th March against the reduced commission in IRDA guidelines.

In case of regular premium insurance policies, a policy with a premium paying term (PPT) of five years will not pay more than 15% in the first year, 7.5% in the second and third year and 5% subsequently. Products with PPT of 12 years or more will have first year commissions up to 35% in case the company has completed 10 years of existence and 40% for the company in business for less than 10 years. Don’t be surprised if intermediaries are only interested in selling long-term life insurance products espousing benefits for disciplined savers.

Online policy sales and other direct sales of products will have no commissions and that benefit will be passed on to the policyholder. It is not clear how the benefit is passed to policyholder, if the same product is sold through agent versus direct sales. Will the policyholder buying the product through direct sales get higher bonus due to the saved commission? Otherwise, the customer will still go through agent route due to the prevalent custom of “commission sharing”.

The minimum guaranteed surrender value for traditional plans has been pathetic. The existing guaranteed surrender value is 30% of all the premiums paid minus the first-year premium and is paid only if premiums have been paid for three years. This has been improved to some extent by the guidelines. For traditional plans with PPT of less than 10 years, the guaranteed surrender value will accrue after the second year. For PPT of 10 years or more, there will be a guaranteed surrender value after three years. This guaranteed surrender value will be 30% of total premiums paid. The surrender value becomes 50% between the fourth and the seventh years. The surrender value after seven years will have to be cleared by the regulator.

While the improved guaranteed surrender value is a welcome move, its impact on the returns to the policyholders will have to be seen. This is because if there is higher number of surrenders, the insurance company’s performance will be impacted and hence returns in terms of bonus will be affected. But, if you are buying a traditional product with a thought of surrendering it during the policy term, then you should not be buying it at all.Moneylife does not recommend buying traditional products, as even after the guidelines, it will remain opaque and fetch low returns. While the industry trend has been to move from ULIP to traditional products, it is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

The minimum death benefit for single premium policies will be higher of 125% of the single premium, or minimum guaranteed sum assured on maturity, or any absolute amount to be paid on death. For those with age more than 45 years, it will be 110% of the single premium. For regular premium products purchased by policyholder of age less than 45 years, it will be higher of 10 times the annualised premium or 105% of all premiums paid on date on death or minimum guaranteed sum assured on maturity, or any absolute amount to be paid on death. For those with age more than 45 years it will be seven times the annualised premium.

Now, penalty for paying credit card dues by cheque!

In a mockery of RBI's independence, a lowly under-secretary of Dept. of Financial Services has issued a fatwa to government banks to penalise you if you pay your credit cards due by cheque! The under-secretary got this idea from HDFC Bank!
 

Nearly a month after Moneylife Foundation discovered and took up the issue of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) bizarre idea of penalising bank depositors for using cheques, we find that the idea or rather the fatwa to this effect had emanated from the finance ministry as far back as 25 October 2012 at the possibly at the instigation of India's most profitable bank.

On 25 October 2012, DD Maheshwari, Under Secretary in the Department of Financial Services sent out a fatwa marked "most immediate" to all chief executives of public sector banks (PSBs). The burden of this two-paragraph diktat was that "to discourage the use of physical/cash mode of transactions, all public sector banks are requested to consider charging a processing fee from the customer paying credit card dues either in cash or through cheque". HDFC Bank has recently increased such charges from Rs50 to Rs100 per transaction and has sent a communication to its customers in compliance with the regulatory requirement of giving a month's notice.

It doesn't stop at that, after holding up HDFC Bank's usurious charges as a role model for PSBs, the letter asks them to "consider issuing appropriate instructions in this regard" and send a "copy of the instructions" back to the finance ministry. 
 

The finance ministry may have used the word 'consider', but its insistence that banks must report back to it shows that it is an order and various banks are planning to fall in line.  The finance ministry's fatwa makes a mockery of the RBI's pretence that it is an independent regulator of banks, because the government has not even bothered to refer this issue to the central bank before issuing orders on what amounts to micro-management of bank charges.

RBI deputy governor Dr KC Chakrabarty has repeatedly exhorted customers to vote with their feet and move to another bank if they dislike the high costs and charges of foreign and private banks. It now appears that the finance ministry will forcefully intervene to ensure that they do not have PSBs to turn to.

The government, as owner of PSBs obviously feels it is within its rights to dictate charges, since it is coughing up vast sums of taxpayers money for bank recapitalisation (Rs14,000 crore is set to be pumped into PSBs for their recapitalisation just now). But instead of ensuring better loan recoveries from dubious industrialists such as Vijay Mallya of the UB group, realty companies and others, who owe tens of thousand crores to banks in bad loans, the government has hit upon the idea of punishing legitimate and tax paying bank customers with new charges.

It gets worse. The RBI, which has been lamenting that a large part of the Indian population is unbanked, then responds by setting up an internal committee to prepare a paper titled "Disincentivising Issuance and Usage of Cheques". This was put up on itswebsite and open for public comment until 28th February. The report itself was kept low-key and been ignored by the mainstream media almost entirely.  Moneylife had then pointed out that the plan to levy a series of punitive charges on the use of cheques, with the utopian objective of forcing people to use online money transfer facilities (such as NEFT and RTGS which are also charged) only punishes those with legitimate bank customers. Please read RBI Must Scrap No Cheque Idea, which is the most commented article in Moneylife since then.

Moneylife Foundation, which has over 21,000 members has sent a detailed memorandum to the RBI on behalf of depositors. Please see below...
 

A senior banker who writes for Moneylife under the pseudonym Gurpur also said that the RBI report on Dis-incentivising Issuance and Usage of Cheques "is a classic example of putting the cart before the horse. Because there are problems galore in the electronic payment system, and even before stabilising this, the RBI wants to dispense with the cheque system". See Incentivise usage of electronic payment systems before dis-incentivising usage of cheques.  Gurpur followed it up with another article that pointed out how the UK had bowed to public pressure given up the idea of abolishing cheque usage. See UK govt bows to public pressure-rejects abolition of cheque system. Will RBI follow suit?

Moneylife had said, "The report on stopping the use of cheques makes you wonder whether RBI is accountable to us or exists solely to help banks enhance profits at the cost of customers, under the guise of seemingly lofty objectives". Ironically, the finance ministry's order makes it clear that it swings to the tune HDFC Bank.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank named facilitator in money laundering

According a sting operation conducted by online magazine Cobrapost, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, three of India's top private sector lenders, are running a nationwidemoney laundering racket. Moneylife has been constantly pointing out the mis-selling and overcharging by banks. Earlier, this week we published a story Now, penalty for paying credit card dues by cheque! that shows how an under-secretary in the finance ministry by using HDFC Bank as a model asking chairmen of all public sector banks (PSBs) to levy charges on credit card dues paid through cash or cheque.

Cobrapost said its investigation conducted in five zones across several branches of these banks and their affiliates like insurance companies revealed following facts...

1. These money laundering practices are part of a standard set of procedures within these banks;
2. These money laundering services are being openly offered to even walk-in customers who wish to launder their illicit money;
3. A variety of options for laundering ill-gotten cash are being offered brazenly;
4. These money laundering services are being offered practically as a standard product across the country.

Cobrapost said its investigation found that banks and their managements systematically and deliberately violate several provisions of the Income Tax (I-T) Act, Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), regulations of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), know your customer (KYC) norms, the Banking Act and Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMLA) with utter disregard to consequences, driven by their desire to boost cheap deposits and thereby increasing their profits.

It took just a cold call by the Cobrapost reporter to the branches of the banks, mentioned above, to put a grossly illegal proposition on the table:  A politician wants to launder a huge sum of black money. The purpose: make it white. Would the bank officials help? And the lid came off the murky world of money laundering in the Indian banking sector, as the officials of these banks rolled out the red carpet for Cobrapost's associate editor Syed Masroor Hasan.

Taking an alias of Rajeev Sharma, Masroor visited dozens and dozens of branches across the length and breadth of the country, including many major cities and state capitals, across all five zones. Nowhere was he disappointed. Nowhere was he turned away. Almost every banker that he came across was willing to help launder the black money of the fictitious politician Masroor was supposedly working for. The discussions on how to launder the money went up the management hierarchy.

How these banks launder black money

The ways HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank suggested to transform the black money into white were both imaginative in their range and brazen in their approach, saysCobrapost. This brought to the fore a modus operandi that is tailored to rake in vast amounts of black money in the form of illegal deposits, insurance and investment products, sold by these banks. All these creative methods are used to convert the dirty money into squeaky clean without the regulatory authorities ever getting a whiff of what they are doing.

Here is a gist of what the various bankers suggested to help the politician launder his illegitimate money:

* Accept huge amounts of cash and invest it in insurance products and gold.

* Open an account to route the cash into various investment schemes of the bank.

* Do it even without the mandatory PAN card or adhering to the KYC norms laid down by the RBI.

* Split the money into tranches to get it into the banking system without being detected.

* Use ‘benami’ accounts to facilitate the conversion of black money.

* Use accounts of other customers to channelize the black money into the system for a fee.

* Get demand drafts made for the client either from their own banks or from other banks to facilitate investment without it showing up in the client’s account.

* Keep the identity of the investor/depositor secret.

* Open multiple accounts and close them at will to facilitate the investment of black money.

* Invest black money in multiple instruments in the names of different individuals, not necessarily drawn from among the family.

* Allot lockers for the safekeeping of the illegitimate cash, including special large size lockers to accommodate crores of hard cash.

* Personally come to the residence of the client to take the black money deal forward and collect the cash, even bring along counting machine.

* Use provisions like Form 60 to deposit the illegitimate cash into the account to route it into investment.

* Help the client to transfer black money abroad through NRE (Non-Resident External)/NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) account; transfer the money telegraphically or through means other than regular banking procedures.

Cobrapost said, other than these ways, bank officials suggested further innovative methods unique to their banks. For instance, HDFC Bank’s officials offer such convenient cash laundering services like the operation of lockers (with cash in them) outside regular banking hours to ensure the secrecy of these customers’ identities and to mask the nature of the transactions, the report said.

“To stay one step ahead, ICICI Bank officials were ready to make a suitable profile for the client, such as showing him as an agriculturist or engaged in some business, so as to make the investment unquestionable,” the report said.

On the other hand, Axis Bank officials proved to be a notch above in inventing fraudulent means, Cobrapost said. “Use ‘sundry’ accounts of the bank, they (Axis Bank) suggested, to deposit all the illegal cash from where it is to be routed into investment. Either use accounts of other customers, for a fee, to transfer money abroad, or use some shell company and take away a chunk of foreign currency as expenses toward business-cum-leisure trips,” the report said.

In a statement, Axis Bank said, "We will examine whatever information that is brought to our notice and investigate thoroughly".

Cobrapost said they (these banks) would pamper you, offering you privilege banking or priority banking, pulling out all stops to make the deal happen. At least, after this expose, the ministry of finance should stop using private banks as models of efficiency.

આવક વધારવા બ્રોકરેજ હાઉસોનું ઈક્વિટી તથા કરન્સી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝ તરફ પ્રયાણ

ઈક્વિટીઝ વેપારમાં આવક ઘટતા સ્ટોક બ્રોકરો ઈક્વિટી તથા કરન્સી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝ તરફ વળ્યા છે. ૨૦૧૨માં ઈક્વિટી કેશમાં નરમાઈ જોવા મળી હતી. સેબીના છેલ્લામાં છેલ્લા આંકડા પર નજર નાખીએ તો ઈક્વિટી તથા કરન્સી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝમાં બ્રોકરોની નોંધણીમાં નોંધપાત્ર વધારો થયો છે.
જાન્યુઆરી ૨૦૧૨માં ઈક્વિટી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝમાં ૨૩૧૫ બ્રોકરોની નોંધણી થઊ હતી જે જાન્યુઆરી ૨૦૧૩માં વધીને ૨૭૯૭ રહી છે. આજ રીતે કરન્સી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝમાં  આ આંક ૨૧૪૮થી વધી ૨૨૮૭  રહ્યો છે. જ્યારે કેશ સેગમેન્ટમાં જાન્યુઆરી ૨૦૧૨માં  નોંધાયેલા બ્રોકરોની સંખ્યા ૧૦૨૭૭ હતી તે ૨૦૧૩માં ઘટીને ૯૯૯૫ રહી છે. બ્રોકર ઉપરાંત સબ-બ્રોકર્સની સંખ્યામાં ૧૦ ટકા જેટલો ઘટાડો નોંધાયો છે.
પોતાનું વળતર વધારવા માટે અનેક રોકાણકારો હવે ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝ તરફ વળી રહ્યા હોવાને કારણે આ સ્થિતિ જોવા મળી રહી છે એમ બજારના સુત્રોએ જણાવ્યું હતું. તાજેતરમાં ઈક્રા દ્વારા જારી કરાયેલા એક અહેવાલમાં જણાવાયું હતું કે, ઘરેલું ઈક્વિટી બ્રોકરેજ હાઉસોનું બીએસઈ તથા એનએસઈનું મળીને ટર્નઓવર નાણાંકીય વર્ષના પ્રથમ નવ મહિનામાં વાર્ષિક ધોરણે ૧૬ ટકા વધ્યુ હતું.  
ટર્નઓવરમાં વધારો થવા પાછળનું કારણ ઈક્વિટી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝના વોલ્યુમમાં થયેલો વધારો જવાબદાર છે. ઈક્વિટી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝના વોલ્યુમમાં ૧૯ ટકા વધારો થયો છે. જો કે કેશનું વોલ્યુમ ૯ ટકા ઘટયું હતું.
ભારતમાં કરન્સી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝ પ્રત્યે પણ રોકાણકારોનું આકર્ષણ વધી રહ્યું છે. કરન્સીમાં આવતા ઘસારા સામે હેજિંગ કરવા કરન્સી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝ યોગ્ય સાધન છે. કરન્સી ડેરિવેટિવ્ઝમાં વેપાર મારફત બ્રોકરેજ હાઉસોની આવકમાં નોંધપાત્ર વધારો થયો છે.  

કાળાં નાણાં સફેદ કરવાનું વધુ એક કૌભાંડ

સિંગલ પ્રિમિયમ પોલિસી લઇ આઠ વર્ષે નાણાં ચોપડે 

લાવો

વીમા કંપનીઓ દ્વારા ઇશ્યૂ કરવામાં આવતી સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમ પોલીસીનો મની લૉન્ડરિંગ માટે વ્યાપક ઉપયોગ કરવામાં આવી રહ્યો છે. લોનના વ્યાજ પર ગેરકાયદે સર્વિસટેક્સ લેવા માટે જવાબદાર ઠરેલી આઈસીઆઈસીઆઈ બૅન્ક ઉપરાંત એચ.ડી.એફ.સી. અને એક્સિસ બૅન્ક ત્રણેય બૅન્કના નામ આજે મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરવા માટે ચર્ચામાં છે. આ ત્રણેય ખાનગી બૅન્કો ઇન્સ્યોરન્સની સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમ પોલીસીનો વિશેષ ઉપયોગ કરીને સ્થાનિક વેપારીઓને મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરવામાં સાથ આપી રહી છે. આમ બીજા શબ્દોમાં કહીએ તો આવકવેરાની ચોરી કરનારાઓને સહકાર આપી રહી છે.
પહેલા વીમો લેવા માટે ગમ તેટલું પ્રીમિયમ રોકડેથી ભરવાની છૂટ હતી. આ સ્થિતિનો દરેક ઇન્સ્યોરન્સ વીમા અને બૅન્કિંગ કંપનીઓએ ભરપૂર લાભ લીધો છે. એક કરોડ રૃપિયા રોકડા લઈને બૅન્કો અને વીમા કંપનીઓ દોઢથી બે કરોડના વીમા ઉતારી આપતી હતી. હવે તેમને પ્રીમિયમ સામે રિસ્કનું પ્રમાણ આઠથી દસ ગણુ રાખવાની સૂચના ઇન્સ્યોરન્સ રેગ્યુલેટરી ઑથોરિટીએ સૂચના આપી છે. આ વીમાની મુદત સાતથી દસ વર્ષની જ રાખવામાં આવતી હતી. આ સ્થિતિમાં વીમો લેનાર વ્યક્તિ સાત વર્ષ પછી તેની મેચ્યોરીટીની દોઢથી બે કરોડની રકમનો ઉપાડ કરી લેતા હતા. આમ તેમના બિનહિસાબી નાણાં એટલે કે બ્લેકના નાણાં આસાનીથી વ્હાઇટના નાણાં બની જતાં હતા. તેની મુદત સાત વર્ષની રાખવા પાછળ પણ ગણિત હતું. આવકવેરા ખાતાના અધિકારીઓ દરોડા પાડે તો તેવા સંજોગોમાં તેમને માત્ર છ વર્ષના જ ચોપડા બતાવવાના થાય છે. કોઈપણ વેપારી કે બિઝનેસમૅન અથવા તો કંપની માટે છ વર્ષથી વધુ સમય માટે તેમનો હિસાબ જાળવી રાખવો ફરજિયાત નથી. આ સ્થિતિમાં સાતમે વર્ષે તેમને નાણાં આવે ત્યારે તેમણે શેમાંથી તે નાણાં જમા કરાવ્યા હતા તેનો હિસાબ આપવાનો રહેતો નથી. તેમ જ સાતમે વર્ષે તેઓ તેમને મળેલા દોઢથી બે કરોડની આવક સીધી ઇન્સ્યોરન્સની મેચ્યોરિટી એમાઉન્ટ તરીકે દર્શાવી શકતા હતા.

બીજું, આવકવેરા ધારાની કલમ ૧૦ હેઠળ વીમાની પાકતી મુદતે મળતી રકમ ટેક્સ ફ્રી છે. તેનો એડવાન્ટેજ પણ મની લૉન્ડરિંગમાં મળતો હોવાથી સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમની પોલીસી મોટી કંપનીઓ, મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરનારાઓમાં લોકપ્રિય બની ગઈ હતી. હવે સવાલ એ ઊભો થાય છે કે વીમા કંપનીઓની તેમાં ભૂમિકા શી? હા, તેમની ભૂમિકાની વાત કરીએ તો તેઓ રોકડેથી પ્રીમિયમ લઈ લેતા હતા. અત્યારે બે એક વર્ષથી રૃા. ૫૦૦૦૦થી વધુ રકમનું પ્રીમયમ ભરવાનું આવે તો તે રોકડેથી ન લેવાનો કે લે તો તે વ્યક્તિને પૅન-પરમેનન્ટ એકાઉન્ટ નંબર અને બીજી ઓળખ(કે.વાય.સી.) લેવાનો નિયમ કરવામાં આવ્યો છે. તે અગાઉ આ નિયમ નહોતા. પરિણામે આ કંપનીઓએ રોકડેથી એક એક કરોડ કે તેનાથી વધુ રકમના પ્રીમયમ લઈને મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરવામાં કરચોરોને સાથ આપીને સરકારની અબજો રૃપિયાની આવક ડૂબાડી છે. રૃા. ૫૦,૦૦૦થી વધુનું પ્રીમિયમ રોકડેથી ન લેવાનો નિયમ આવ્યા પછીય આ પ્રવૃત્તિ અટકી નથી. તેઓ ૪૯૦૦૦ના કે ૪૫૦૦૦ના પ્રીમિયમ લઈને આ પોલીસી લઈ લે છે. આ રોકડા નાણાના પે ઓર્ડરમાં રૃપાંતર કરવાની કામગીરી વીમા કંપનીઓની બૅન્કો જ કરે છે. મોટી બિનહિસાબી આવક ધરાવનારાઓ એક વર્ષે જુદી જુદી કંપનીઓની પાંચથી છ પોલીસી લઈને મોટી રકમનો વેરો બચાવી લેવા ઉપરાંત ભવિષ્યમાં તે પૈસાને ટેક્સ ફ્રી બનાવી લેવાની ગોઠવણ કરતાં હતા. બીજું, યુનિટ લિન્ક્ડ પ્લાનમાં આ પોલીસીઓ વધુ લેવામાં આવતી હતી. પોતાના પૈસાનો સ્લો ગ્રોથ થવા દઈને સલામત વળતર મેળવવા માગનારાઓ એવરેજ આવક કરવા માટે તે નાણાં રોકતા હતા. બીજી તરફ કેટલાક લોકો તે નાણાંને વીમા કંપનીઓ મારફતે શેરમાર્કેટમાં લગાડીને તેમાંથી પણ કમાણી કરતા હતા. ઘણીવાર એક કરોડના આઠ વર્ષે ત્રણ કરોડ કે તેનાથીય વધુ મળતા હતા. આમ હિસાબમાં ન દર્શાવેલા નાણાં પણ તગડી આવકનો સ્રોત બનતા હતા.

રોકડેથી રૃા. ૫૦૦૦૦થી વધુનું પ્રીમિયમ ન લેવાની વ્યવસ્થા આવી તે પછીય ૪૯૦૦૦ કે તેની આસપાસની રકમના પે ઓર્ડર કઢાવીને તેના પ્રીમિયમ જમા લઈ લેવાની વ્યવસ્થા વીમા કંપનીઓ ખુદ કરી લે છે. વીમા કંપનીઓના અધિકારીઓ માત્ર એક જ વાત કરી દે છે તમારે નથી જોવાનું કે અમે તે પ્રીમિયમને ચૅકમાં કઈ રીતે કન્વર્ટ કરીએ છીએ. તેઓ તેમની પોતાની જ બૅન્કોને રોકડાના પ્રીમિયમને ચેકના પ્રીમિયમમાં રૃપાંતરિત કરી લેવાનું કામ કરે છે. ખાનગી બૅન્કોએ આ માટે જુદી જુદી સહકારી બૅન્કોનો ભરપૂર ઉપયોગ કર્યો છે. બ્લેકના નાણાંનો રૃા. ૧ લાખનો ડિમાન્ડ ડ્રાફ્ટ મેળવવા માટે તેઓ અંદાજ રૃા. ૮૦૦ સહકારી બૅન્કને ચૂકવી આપતા હતા. એક કરોડનો બિનહિસાબી કે બ્લેકના નાણાંનો ડિમાન્ડ ડ્રાફ્ટ મેળવવા માટે માત્ર રૃા. ૮૦,૦૦૦ ચૂકવવા પડે છે. આ રીતે તેઓ રોકડના વહેવારને છુપાવી દેવાની કામગીરી કરી રહ્યા છે. આ વહેવારો ક્યારેય બહાર નહિ આવે તેની ખાતરી પણ તેઓ આપતા હતા. આ નાણાં આપીને લેવાતા ડિમાન્ડ ડ્રાફ્ટ એચ.ડી.એફ.સી. બૅન્ક, આઈ.સી.આઈ.સી.આઈ. બૅન્ક અને એક્સિસ બૅન્કના નામના જ આવતા હતા. આ રીતે પોલીસી ખરીદનારની ચિંતા ઓછી કરી દેવામાં આવતી હતી. વીમાની પોલીસીના નાણાં પાકતી મુદતે રોકડેથી આપવાની વ્યવસ્થા પણ આ ત્રણેય બૅન્કોએ રાખી હતી.

બૅન્કના મૅનેજરોને અપાતા ટાર્ગેટ
બૅન્કના મૅનેજરોને પણ ઇન્સ્યોરન્સના પ્રીમિયમ મેળવી લાવવાના ટાર્ગેટ અપાય છે. આ ટાર્ગેટ ફૂલફિલ કરવા માટે તેઓ પણ રોકડેથી પ્રીમિયમ ભરનારાઓને શોધી શોધીને તેમની સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમ પોલીસી મેળવતા હતા. વાસ્તવમાં ખાનગી વીમા કંપનીઓને વીમા ક્ષેત્રમાં પ્રવેશ આપવાનો મૂળભૂત હેતુ તો વીમાની સેવાથી વંચિત રહેતા લોકો સુધી વીમાની સેવા પહોંચે અને વધુમાં વધુ લોકો પોલીસી લેતા થાય તે હતો. તેને બદલે વીમા કંપનીઓએ તેમનું કદ વધારવા માટે તેમણે કેટલી પોલીસીઓ આપી તે જાહેરાત કરવાને બદલે તેમણે કેટલું પ્રીમિયમ આ વર્ષે મેળવ્યું તે માટેની હોડ લગાવવા માંડી હતી. વર્ષે વર્ષે તેઓ તેમની પ્રીમિયમની આવકમાં થયેલા વધારાની જાહેરાતો કર્યા કરે છે. પરિણામે સિંગલ પોલીસીનો ઉપયોગ કરીને મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરનારાઓએ તેનો ભરપૂર લાભ ઊઠાવ્યો છે.

વીમા મારફતે મનીલૉન્ડરિંગ કરી રહેલા સહકારી બૅન્કો
કદાચ તમને જાણીને આશ્ચર્ય થશે કે અમદાવાદની એક સહકારી બૅન્ક આ જ મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરવામાં સંડોવાયેલી હોવાનું બહાર આવ્યું છે.
આ બૅન્ક અત્યારે રિઝર્વ બૅન્કની તપાસ હેઠળ પણ આવી ગઈ છે. જોકે રિઝર્વ બૅન્કે હજી સુધી આ વહેવારોને ઉજાગર કર્યા નથી. સહકારી બૅન્કોનો પણ રોકડના વહેવારો માટે બેફામ ઉપયોગ કરવામાં આવી રહ્યો છે. સહકારી બૅન્કોને પણ વીમા પોલીસી વેચવાની છૂટ આપવામા આવી છે. તેને પરિણામે મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરવાનું દૂષણ તેમાં વધુ વ્યાપક બની શકે છે.

મેરિડ વુમેન્સ પ્રોપર્ટી પ્રોટેક્શન એક્ટનું ઓથમાં ચાલતું કૌભાંડ(MWP)
રોકડેથી એક કરોડ રૃપિયા આપી દઈને સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમની પોલીસી લઈ લીધા પછી આ પોલીસીની ટ્રસ્ટી પત્નીને બનાવી દેવામાં આવતી હતી. મેરિડ વુમેન્ટ પ્રોપર્ટી પ્રોટેક્શન એક્ટની જોગવાઈ પ્રમાણે આ પોલીસીની મહિલાને ટ્રસ્ટી બનાવી દેવામા આવે તે પછી આવકવેરા ખાતાના દરોડા આવે તો પણ તે પોલીસીના પેપર્સને તેઓ લઈ શકતા નહોતા. બીજું આ પોલીસીના પેપર્સ બિઝનેસમૅન કે કંપનીઓ તેમના અન્ય કોઈ સ્વજનને ત્યાં રાખી મૂકતા હોવાથી આવકવેરા ખાતાના દરોડામાં પણ તે ધ્યાનમાં આવતી નથી.

ઊંઝા અને સુરતમાં સૌથી વધુ વેચાતી સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમ પોલીસી
રિયલ એસ્ટેટના બિઝનેસ કરતાં બિલ્ડરો અને ઊંઝા જેવી કૃષિ ઉત્પાદન બજાર સમિતિમાં ખેડૂતો પાસેથી રોજ રોજ કરોડોની રકમનો માલ રોકડેથી ખરીદી કરનારા વેપારીઓમાં સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમ પોલીસી બહુ જ લોકપ્રિય બની હોવાનું વીમા કંપનીના એજન્ટ તરીકે કામ કરનારાઓનું કહેવું છે. ગુજરાતની દરકે મોટી કૃષિ ઉત્પન બજાર સમિતિમાં વેપાર કરનારાઓની તપાસ કરવામાં આવે તો સિંગલ પ્રીમયમ પોલીસી લેનારાઓ સંખ્યાબંધ લોકોના નામ બહાર આવી શકે છે.
હીરાની ચમક કરતાં તેમાંથી મળતાં પૈસાની ચમક પણ એટલી જ જોરદાર છે. સુરતના હીરાના વેપાર સાથે સંકળાયેલા લોકોમાં પણ સિંગલ પ્રીમિયમ પોલીસી અત્યંત લોકપ્રિય હોવાનું વીમા એજન્ટોનું કહેવું છે. આ બંને ક્ષેત્રમાં રોકડના નાણાંનો વહેવાર વ્યાપક હોવાનું જગજાહેર છે. પરિણામે સિંગલ પ્રીમયમ પોલીસી ખરીદવા માટે થતી પડાપડી પાછળના હાર્દને સમજવો મુશ્કેલ રહેતો જ નથી.
મની લૉન્ડરિંગ એટલે શું?
આવકવેરો છુપાવવા માટે ચોપડે હિસાબમાં ન દર્શાવેલા નાણાંનું મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરવામાં આવે છે. ચોપડે નાણાં ન દર્શાવીને જે તે બિઝનેસમૅન કે વેપારી તે આવક પર ભરવાનો થતો આવકવેરો ભરવાનું ટાળે છે. મની લૉન્ડરિંગ કરનારાઓ બહુધા ૩૦ ટકા આવકવેરાના સ્લેબમાં આવે છે. આ લોકો એક કરોડની આવક ચોપડે ન દર્શાવીને અંદાજે ૩૩ લાખ રૃપિયાનો વેરો બચાવી લે છે.
બીજા શબ્દોમાં કહેવામાં આવે તો આ બિનહિસાબી નાણાંને હિસાબી નાણાંમાં રૃપાંતરિત કરવાની પ્રવૃત્તિ એટલે મની લૉન્ડરિંગ.

Retirement Calculator

You have now seen why it is important to plan for your golden years, and more importantly, how you should plan for your retirement.
Now, you need to know how much money you will need to retire in peace. This calculator will help you figure that out.
Remember, if you like it, share it!

Your Age	yrs
Retirement planned at age...	yrs
Life expectancy	yrs
Current Monthly Household Expenditure	Rs
Time to retirement	yrs
Expected inflation per year	%
Monthly Expenditure – at retirement age	Rs
Annual Expenditure – at retirement age	Rs
Provision for travel, healthcare annual expenditure	Rs
Travel, healthcare will inflate by	%
Travel, healthcare at time of retirement	Rs
Annual expenditure at retirement	Rs
Post retirement expected inflation	%
Post retirement life expectancy	yrs
Expected return per annum post retirement	%
Corpus required at time of retirement	Rs
Investments already made for retirement	Rs
Growth expected per annum in the investments	%
Investments corpus at time of retirement	Rs
Additional Corpus Required	Rs
Per Month Investment Required	Rs
Now you know exactly how much money you need to retire peacefully! The next thing to do is achieve this corpus.

Key Highlight of the Budget 2013-2014.

BUDGET: Finance Minister Chidambaram 

• Intend to keep speech simple, short
• Global crisis spared none
• Chidambaram: Intend to keep speech simple, short
• Not unaffected by what is happening in rest of world
• CSO estimate FY13 GDP at 5%
• Global econ growth slowed to 3.2% in FY12 from 3.9% FY11
• Challenge to achieve trend growth rate of 8%

China, Indonesia growing faster than India
• RBI estimated GDP growth at 5.5% FY13
• Final GDP growth rate would be lower than CSO, RBI view
• There is no reason for gloom or pessimism
• Only China to grow faster than India in FY14
• Average GDP growth of 8% in 11th Plan
• Growth is highest goal
• Achieving high growth not beyond our capacity
• No development, inclusiveness without high growth
• Can achieve faster growth rates as seen earlier
• Growth a necessary condition for development

• Current account gap is greater worry
• Econ space constraints on low saving, tight RBI policy
• Current acct deficit high on gold, coal imports
• Need to encourage foreign investment
• Need $75 bln to finance current acct gap over next 2 yrs
• Current acct deficit high on oil imports
• India doesn't have choice between FII and FDI
• Foreign investment is an imperative

• No choice but to encourage foreign investment
• Battle against inflation must be fought on all fronts
• Need to fight inflation on all fronts
• Food inflation is worrying
• Govt spend is both good, bad from inflation perspective
• Need to augment supply side to fight food inflation
• Oilseed, pulses supply-demand mismatch pushes up inflation
• No choice but to rationalise spending

• Govt expenditure boosts aggregate demand
• FY13 Plan spend too ambitious, non-Plan too conservative
• Efforts over last few months brought dn WPI inflation to 7%
• FY13 plan expenditure was too ambitious
• FY13 non-Plan expenditure too conservative
• Efforts in last few months brought dn Core inflation to 4.5%
• FY13 planned expenditure was too ambitious

• Govt expenditure boosts aggregate demand
• FY13 Plan spend too ambitious, non-Plan too conservative
• Efforts over last few months brought dn WPI inflation to 7%
• FY13 plan expenditure was too ambitious
• FY13 non-Plan expenditure too conservative
• Efforts in last few months brought dn Core inflation to 4.5%
• FY13 planned expenditure was too ambitious

• 12th Plan total expenditure revised to 14.31 trln rupees
• Faced with huge fiscal gap, no choice but curtail spend
• FY14 total spend pegged 16.65 trln rupees
• FY14 total Plan spend pegged 5.55 trln rupees
• FY14 plan spend seen 5.65325 tlrn rupees

 FY14 Budget aim to provide opportunity to youth
• FY14 plan spend 29.4% more than FY13 revised estimates
• To create opportunities for youth to get skills for jobs
• To allot 245.98 bln rupees to the tribal sub-plan
• Allocate 415.61 bln rupees for schedule cast sub-plan
• To allot 772.36 bln rupees to child budget FY14

To allot 772.36 bln rupees for child schemes in FY14
• Giving enough funds to programmes for women, children
• Allocate 415.61 bln rupees for Scheduled Castes sub-plan
• Gender budget allot 971.34 bln rupees FY14
• Allocate 35.11 bln rupees to minority affairs ministry
• Funds for the sub-funds cannot be diverted
• Allotment to minority ministry 35.11 bln rupees FY14
• To allot more 2 bln rupee to child, women welfare ministry

• To allot 47.27 bln rupees for medical training & research
• To allot 658.67 bln rupees to human resource ministry
• 212.39 bln rupees in FY14 for new national health mission
• Allocate 658.67 bln rupees to human resource department
• Allot 16.5 bln rupees to 6 AIIMS-like institutes
• FY14 for new national health mission allocation up 24%
• Allot 272.58 bln rupees to Sarva Shiksha mission

• To set up regulatory authority for road sector
• Road construction facing financial stress
• To allot 50 bln rupees to NABARD for warehouses FY14
• To set up regulatory body for road sector
• Revival of invest in manufacturing sector a key challenge
• 30 bln rupee road projects to be awarded in Apr-Sep

• Expect to raise 250 bln rupees via tax-free bonds FY13
• Pvt sector infra investment seen 47% in 12th plan
• To allow some institutions to issue tax-free bonds FY14
• To OK 500 bln rupee tax-free bonds in FY14
• To encourage infra debt funds to boost infra growth
• RIDF corpus to be raised to 200 bln rupees
• IIFCL, ADB to offer credit enhancement for infra cos
• Rural Infra Dev Fund corpus raised to 200 bln rupees

• Will improve communication of our policies to investors
• Doing business in India should seem mutually beneficial
• Infra debt funds to be encouraged
• 12th plan projects $1 trln for infra invest

• To introduce investment allowance for high value invest
• To introduce 15% investment allowance to attract invest
• Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme to be liberalised

• To set up regulatory authority for road sector
• Road construction facing financial stress
• To allot 50 bln rupees to NABARD for warehouses FY14
• To set up regulatory body for road sector
• Revival of invest in manufacturing sector a key challenge
• 30 bln rupee road projects to be awarded in Apr-Sep

• Expect to raise 250 bln rupees via tax-free bonds FY13
• Pvt sector infra investment seen 47% in 12th plan
• To allow some institutions to issue tax-free bonds FY14
• To OK 500 bln rupee tax-free bonds in FY14
• To encourage infra debt funds to boost infra growth
• RIDF corpus to be raised to 200 bln rupees
• IIFCL, ADB to offer credit enhancement for infra cos
• Rural Infra Dev Fund corpus raised to 200 bln rupees

• 15% deduction for invest up to 1 bln rupee till FY15
• No custom duty for plant, machinery for semi-conductors
• Gross domestic savings down 6% in FY12
• Pvt sector remains main contributor to savings
• Additional tax sop for first time home owners
• Rajiv Gandhi equity plan invest cap up by 200,000 rupee
• Up to 2.5 mln rupee 1st home loan to get more tax cut
• Inflation indexed bonds to be introduced
• To launch inflation-indexed certificates

• 15% deduction for invest up to 1 bln rupee till FY15
• No custom duty for plant, machinery for semi-conductors
• Gross domestic savings down 6% in FY12
• Pvt sector remains main contributor to savings
• Additional tax sop for first time home owners
• Rajiv Gandhi equity plan invest cap up by 200,000 rupee
• Up to 2.5 mln rupee 1st home loan to get more tax cut
• Inflation indexed bonds to be introduced
• To launch inflation-indexed certificates

• To introduce inflation linked instruments
• Initial work on Chennai-Bengaluru corridor started
• Rajiv equity plan to be eased; to cover MF investments
• To set up 2 new ports at Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal
• To give Delhi-Mumbai corridor more funds if needed
• 2 ports at Andhra, W Bengal to add 100 mln tn capacity
• To have Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial corridor
• Plan grid connecting waterways, roads, ports
• Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Project has made rapid progress
• Oil, gas policy to move to revenue sharing model
• Natural gas pricing policy to be reviewed

• Work on 2 new smart industrial cities will start FY14
• To announce policy on shale gas exploration
• Shale gas projects to be encouraged
• To move oil E&P pacts to profit sharing from production
• Must cut dependence on import of coal
• Must reduce dependence on imported coal
• 5 mtpa LNG terminal to be fully operational in FY14
• Coal imports seen at 185 mln tn by FY16
• Coal import estimated to rise to 185 mln tns FY17
• To cut dependence on coal import in medium-, long-term

• States must prepare plans immediately for discoms
• To double SIDBI's refinance capacity to 100 bln rupees
• Non-tax benefits to MSME for 3 yrs after moving higher
• Urge state govts to approve recast of electricity boards
• MSME benefits to stay 3 yrs post move to higher category

 To give 5 bln rupee to SIDBI for factoring loan guarantee
• Non-tax sop to MSME to stay 3 yr post move to higher class
• Textile tech upgrade scheme to get 24 bln rupees FY14
• 1.51 trln rupees for textile upgradation fund 12th Plan
• Allocates 500 mln rupees to set up apparel parks
• 960 mln rupees for interest subvention in textile FY14
• Loans at 6% rate for women textile entrepreneurs
• Assure support to commerce ministry to boost exports
• PSU bks well regulated, must be adequately capitalised
• To allot 140 bln rupees for capital infusion in PSU banks

• 140 bln rupees to PSU banks for recapitalisation FY14
• Will ensure PSU banks always meet Basel III norms
• Gave 125 bln rupees to PSU bks for recapitalisation FY13
• PSU banks assured all branches to have ATMs by Mar 2014
• Plan to set up exclusive bank for women

• To set up first women PSU Bank
• Plan council for intl competitiveness of fincl sector
• To provide 10 bln rupees initial capital for women's bk
• To allot 60 bln rupees for rural housing fund under NHB
• License to women bank by Oct 2013
• To provide 60 bln rupees for rural housing fund
• Allot 60 bln rupees to rural housing fund
• 20 bln rupee allocation to create urban housing fund
• NHB to set up urban housing fund
• Allocates 20 bln rupees to urban housing fund

 NHB to set up urban housing fund
• Allocates 20 bln rupees to urban housing fund
• KYC of banks sufficient for insurance policies
• Insurance cos can open Tier 2 city branch without IRDA nod
• Banking correspondence can sell micro-insurance pdts
• Towns with 10,000 people to have LIC, GIC offices
• No IRDA nod for insurance cos' branches in Tier II cities

• Banking correspondents can sell micro-insurance pdts
• 1.5 bln rupees for healthcare plan for elderly
• Bank KYC to be enough to secure insurance policy
• Scope of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to be expanded
• EXTRA: Swaraj smiles, cheers exclusive bank for women
• Hope insurance, PFRDA bill will be passed in this session
• India capital mkt best regulated
• Health insurance plan to extend to rickshaw, taxi drivers

• National health insurance plan to extend to mine workers
• Risk-based approach to KYC from SEBI
• OK to FII to trade in exchange traded FX derivatives
• SEBI to ease norms for foreign portfolio investment
• Allow FIIs to use corporate bond income for margin need

• SMEs will be allowed to be listed without IPO
• FII status for investment less than 10% in a company
• FDI status for investment over 10% in a company
• Distributors can become members of exchanges' MF segment
• Stock exchanges to have dedicated debt segment
• MF distributors allowed to become stock exchange members
• Insurance, pension cos can directly trade in debt segment
• Exchanges can introduce dedicated debt segment
• ETFs will be eligible for pension, insurance investment

To provide 2.5 bln rupees for sports university at Patiala
• 1 bln rupee grant each to Aligarh, Banaras universities
• Allot 2.5 bln rupee to sports coaching institute over 3 yr
• Allocate 1 bln rupee grant to TISS, Guwahati
• Post offices to move to core banking solutions
• 294 more cities to be connected by FM radio
• To give 5.32 bln rupees for core banking at post offices
• 5.3 bln rupees to post offices for core banking solution

Home fin cos up more; 20 bln rupees for urban housing fund
• Wind energy sector deserves incentives
• Generation-based incentives for wind energy projects
• To allot 115 bln rupees for Backward Region Fund
• 115 bln rupees for backward regions grant fund FY14
• Viability gap funds to city bodies for energy from waste
• To allot 2.03 trln rupees as defence spend FY14

 FY14 defence allocation 2.03 trln rupees
• 867.4 bln rupees in FY14 for defence CAPEX
• To allot 62.7 bln rupees to science, technology ministry
• Allocate 39.83 bln rupees for high school education scheme
• Allot 62.75 bln rupees to ministry of science, tech
• 58.8 bln rupees for department of atomic energy
• To allot 56.15 bln rupees to Department of Space
• To set up national institute of sports coaching
• Grant 1 bln rupee each to four universities
• To expand pvt FM stations to 294 more cities

• TO auction 839 more radio channels in FY14

• FY13 fiscal deficit estimate revised to 5.2% of GDP
• FY14 revenue deficit projected at 3.3% of GDP
• Nava Bharat Ventures arm's 150 MW Andhra unit starts ops
• 3.9% revenue deficit in FY13
• FY13 revenue deficit revised at 3.9% of GDP
• Chidambaram starts announcing tax proposals
• FY14 revenue deficit aim 3.3%
• Nava Bharat Ventures arm's 150 MW Andhra unit starts ops
• To set up tax administration reform commission

 To provide 2.5 bln rupees for sports university at Patiala
• 1 bln rupee grant each to Aligarh, Banaras universities
• Allot 2.5 bln rupee to sports coaching institute over 3 yr
• Allocate 1 bln rupee grant to TISS, Guwahati
• Post offices to move to core banking solutions
• 294 more cities to be connected by FM radio
• To give 5.32 bln rupees for core banking at post offices
• 5.3 bln rupees to post offices for core banking solution

• Allot 10 bln rupees for women safety fund
• To set up Nirbhaiya fund for women security
• To give 10 bln rupees for Nirbhaya Fund
• Skilled, trained youth to give enormous boost to economy
• To give 10 bln rupees to skill development fund for youth
• Cities above 100,000 population to have pvt FM channels

• Made modest, cautious start for direct cash transfer Jan 1

• Direct cash transfer scheme covered 1.1 mln people so far
• FY14 Plan expenditure estimated 5.55 trln rupees
• FY14 non-Plan expenditure estimated 11.09 trln rupees
• FY14 plan spend seen 5.55 trln rupees
• 5.2% fiscal deficit in FY13
• FY14 fiscal deficit projected at 4.8% of GDP

• Little room to raise tax rates for more revenue
• room to raise taxes in constrained economy
• No case to revise either tax slabs or rates
• No case to revise direct tax rates, slabs
• No plan to revise direct tax rates
• Personal income tax slabs unchanged FY14
• Some relief to tax payers in 200,000-500,000 bracket

• Fisc consolidation can't be done only by spend cuts

• Tax credit of 2,000 rupees for income above 500,000 rupee
• 2,000 rupee tax credit to 200,000-500,000 rupees income
• Some relief for 200,00-500,000 rupees band tax payers
• 10% surcharge on taxable income above 10 mln rupees.