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Business London News

London Transport Body Puts Ola’s Licence On Hold

Ride-hailing major Ola has failed to get its licence renewed in London due to public safety concerns raised by the city’s transport regulator. The company will continue its operations in the city despite the legal hurdle.

Ola said that it will appeal against the decision of Transport for London (TfL). Under the rules, a company is allowed to operate while appealing the decision of TfL.

The India-based ride-hailing major which began operating in London in February believes that it has corrected all the issues raised by the regulator and hopes to demonstrate them on appeal.

Ola was told by TfL that the company was found not “fit and proper” to hold a private hire operator’s licence, Sky News reported on Sunday.

“At Ola, our core principle is to work closely, collaboratively and transparently with regulators such as TfL,” Marc Rozendal, Managing Director, Ola UK, said in a statement shared with IANS.

Rozendal said that Ola has been working with TfL during the review period and has sought to provide assurances and address the issues raised in an “open and transparent” manner.

“Ola will take the opportunity to appeal this decision and in doing so, our riders and drivers can rest assured that we will continue to operate as normal, providing safe and reliable mobility for London,” Rozendal said.

Besides, London, Ola operates in several other UK cities including Birmingham and Coventry.

Ola’s rival Uber last week won a legal battle over its London licence as a judge ruled in favour of the ride-hailing major, while overturning a ban on the app by the city’s transport regulator.

Uber London Limited brought the appeal against the decision of TfL last year not to renew its London private hire vehicle operator’s licence over passenger safety

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Also Read: Uber lays off 3,700 workers over 3-minute long Zoom calls

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Business India News

‘Indian Economy Clearly On Recovery Path’

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan (Photo: IANS)

“The number of people trading in Indian markets increased initially due to the lockdown. So effectively, we see a lot of people coming into the market not only for equities but for the trading part of it because people are sitting at home and want to trade,” says Bombay Stock Exchange MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan

Despite COVID-induced moderation, India’s economic fundamentals remain strong, thereby retaining investors’ interest, contended the chief of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

In a conversation with IANS, BSE MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan pointed out that rising investor participation in the equity segment along with recent industrial recovery trends clearly show the resilience of the Indian economy.

“Overall, I believe that despite a moderation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundamentals of Indian economy remain strong and GDP growth is expected to rebound from the second quarter of FY 2020-21,” Chauhan said.

“Indian government is seen not only as reformative, but transformative in approach, as seen by the recent farm and labour bill enactments. Foreign investors, in my view, are focussed on such reforms.”

According to Chauhan, India’s economy has shown signs of stability in the last few months with manufacturing and services gradually improving even as coronavirus cases escalated across the country.

“Activity in India’s dominant services sector is picking up and manufacturing has bounced back into expansion due to government push after four successive months of contraction,” he said.

“So clearly the real economy is on the path of recovery, as the markets have indicated. It is early days to predict full recovery but current indications are good.”

Besides, he cited that in the last 1 year, BSE brokers have opened 1.5 crore investor accounts.

In the last 6 months alone, more than 80 lakh investor accounts have been opened on BSE.

Consequently, the stock exchange major has reached a landmark of 5.47 crore investor accounts registered on its platform.

“The number of people trading in Indian markets increased initially due to the lockdown. So effectively, we see a lot of people coming into the market not only for equities but for the trading part of it because people are sitting at home and want to trade,” Chauhan said.

Besides, he pointed out that organised markets’ ability to provide instant liquidity is one of the core reasons for continuance of their operations despite the lockdown.

“The government did not force the markets to close which allowed people who were in need of funds to sell their assets like stocks or mutual fund units, collect their money, use it for other purposes and that would not have been possible if we had closed down the markets,” he explained.

“So, there is a tremendous trust that has been built up in terms of the market’s ability to provide you liquidity albeit at a lower price. Even if the market asset prices had gone down, they also started going up.”

Furthermore, he elucidated that India has been a preferred destination of Foreign Institutional Investors over the past few months.

Bombay Stock Exchange. (File Photo: IANS)


Since the FII outflows in March, the following six months till September 2020 has seen net inflows of over Rs 21,000 crore.

India has continued to receive FII inflows, whereas emerging market peers recorded outflows. For instance, South Korea FII outflows stood at $2.3 billion and that of Taiwan at $2.2 billion.

In terms of IPOs hitting the market in FY21, Chauhan predicted that offerings this year are expected to be more than last year’s listings and amount raised as stock markets are flush with liquidity.

“Several firms had to keep their IPOs on hold due to lockdown curbs, which have hit the markets as the lockdowns have eased,” he said.

“As long as pricing remains fair, public confidence in the IPO market will be there, which in turn will increase the prospects of upcoming IPOs. It will also be crucial for companies to showcase their resilience to the pandemic and how they adapt to the emerging situation.”

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Also Read: SEBI Amends delisting, Debenture Trustee Rules

Also Read: Investor Alert: SEBI’s new margin rule kicks in

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Business

Paytm launches own app store

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm

In a bid to support Indian app developers, leading digital payments platform Paytm on Monday launched an Android Mini App Store to support local developers take their innovative products to the masses.

Paytm said it will provide listing and distribution of these mini-apps within its app without any charges. For payments, developers will be able to give a choice of Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank, UPI, net-banking and Cards to their users.

The move comes after its own app was removed by Google from its Play Store recently.

More than 300 app-based service providers such as Decathlon, Ola, Park+, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino’s Pizza, FreshMenu, NoBroker have already joined the programme.

“Paytm Mini App Store empowers our young Indian developers to leverage our reach and payments to build new innovative services. For Paytm users, it will be a seamless experience that doesn’t require any separate download and enables them to use their preferred payment option,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm.

Mini apps are a custom-built mobile website that gives users app-like experience without having to download them.

Paytm has created the digital infrastructure to enable small developers and businesses to set up low-cost, quick-to-build mini-apps which can be built using HTML and javascript technologies.

The company provides Paytm wallet, Paytm Payments Bank account and UPI at zero charges and levies a 2 per cent charge for other instruments like credit cards.

The company said that the local India’s app store aims to drive the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission.

Paytm Mini App Store offers direct access to discover, browse and pay without downloading or installing separate apps.

It comes with a developer dashboard for analytics, payments collection along with various marketing tools to engage with the users.

This app store has been running in beta with select users and witnessed over 12 million visits in September.

“I am proud that we are today launching something that creates an opportunity for every Indian app developer,” Sharma said.

Google recently pulled the Paytm app from the Play Store for not complying with its gambling policies.

Paytm alleged that it was “arm-twisted” by the search engine major to comply with what it called “biased Play Store policies that are meant to artificially create Google’s market dominance”.

The Paytm app was restored on the Play Store after a gap of a few hours.

Daring Google, the financial services platform this week brought back the Paytm Cricket League with UPI cashback and scratch cards.

Paytm said that the cashback was being given following all rules and regulations set by the government.

After a face-off with Paytm, Google also sent notices to Zomato and Swiggy for running cashback-based IPL games and both the food aggregator platforms decided to pause their virtual gaming leagues.

While Zomato was running Zomato Premier League on its app, Swiggy offered ‘Match Day Mania’ during the ongoing IPL 13 matches.

Also Read: Traders body wants digital payment to curb infection through currency

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Business

India Inc expects recovery in H2 FY21: CII Poll

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). (Photo: Twitter/@FollowCII)

The business fraternity expects a steady recovery in the Indian economy during the second half of the financial year 2020-21, shows a poll of CEOs done by CII.

A statement by the industry body said that India Inc is estimating a capacity utilisation of over 50 per cent during October-March in FY21.

“A steady recovery of the Indian economy is on the anvil as corporate India restarts business and economic activity with lockdowns being increasingly relaxed in many parts of the country. For the first time since the advent of the pandemic in the country in early 2020, India Inc is now estimating a capacity utilisation of more than 50 per cent in the second half of this financial year,” it said.

CEOs of top 115 companies who met at CII’s National Council recently, indicated revival of positive business sentiment and gradual rise in expected corporate performance.

The CEOs of top companies who took the poll included representatives across sectors from metals and mining to manufacturing, auto, pharmaceuticals, health, energy, infrastructure, construction and leading services sectors including ITeS, health, hospitality, tourism and e-commerce.

Also Read: Tesla to enter India next year

The apex body also had a large representation of the medium and small sector apart from start-ups, it said.

The statement said that the unlocking of almost all economic activities, along with the reform and revival measures announced by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have contributed to the gradual improvement in business sentiments in the second half of the current financial year.

“While in most cases, the performance – revenue or capacity utilisation – is estimated to be lower than the comparative figures in 2019-20, a large percentage of the CEOs polled have shown confidence in the days ahead indicating that the worst may be behind,” it said.

On consumer demand, while 32 per cent of the CEOs are hoping for better prospects, another 27 per cent of them expect no change when compared to the second half of the last financial year.

However, only 31 per cent of the CEOs expected their revenue growth to be in the positive territory in the second half of the current financial year compared to last year. Regarding exports, 40 per cent of the CEOs expect better prospects on exports and 24 per cent of them expect no change in prospects during the second half of the current fiscal when compared to the same period last year.

Apart from the agri-sector that has been in the positive territory there are now clear indications of a smart recovery in some sectors like automobiles, FMCG, consumer durables and construction equipment, the CII statement said.

According to CII, both the Centre and State governments would need to focus on livelihoods in addition to lives and hence efforts need to be made to stall the practice of sudden and ad hoc lockdowns announced by states as well as districts.

These not only further disrupt the revival of economic activities but also do not yield the desired results on lives either, it said.

Also Read: ‘India needs to move beyond raw material export’

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Business

Positive signs seen in Sep: Economic Review

Growth chart. (File Photo: IANS)

A report by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) claims that various signs of economic improvement were seen in India in the month of September. The report also gives credit to the packages put forward by the government.

The ‘Monthly Economic Review’ for September 2020 cited the estimated growth in the Kharif foodgrain output for 2020-21 to show a recovering economy.

“The implementation of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (AB) package and unlocking of the economy have ensured that economic recovery in India has gained momentum. This is seen in agriculture with production of kharif foodgrains in 2020-21 estimated to go past the previous year’s level,” it said.

It noted that the growth of demand in the rural sector is reflected in registration of two wheelers, three wheelers and passenger vehicles along with tractor sales reaching or surpassing previous year levels in August.

Automobile sales largely recorded improvement last month compared to September 2019, a major reason being the low base – low sales during the year ago.

The report also said that other high-frequency indicators have also improved in sync with global activity. Increase in global demand has led to expansion of India’s export at 5.3 per cent in September on YoY basis, it added.

The recovery in rail freight enabled revenue earnings clocking positive year-on-year growth for the first time since March in the months of August and early September.

The DEA report said that easing of inter-state movement restrictions, quarantine policy and unlocking were accompanied with recovery in rail passenger earnings as well.

At the same time, the report also said that the overall credit growth continues to remain muted amid weak credit demand and heightened risk aversion among banks.

Credit to medium enterprises, however, has witnessed an uptick, according to the Monthly Economic Review for September 2020.

“Bank credit growth continued to moderate in the first six months of this year to reach 5.3 per cent as on 11th September 2020. Bank credit to the commercial sector recorded a growth of 5.4 per cent, mirroring weak credit demand and increased risk aversion in the banking system,” it said.

As per the report, while credit growth to the services sector declined from 10.1 per cent YoY in July to 8.6 per cent in August, credit to trade services picked up significantly to record 12.5 per cent YoY growth.

Growth in personal loans also moderated in August, it said.

However, credit growth to medium enterprises picked up to 2.8 per cent as on August 28 as compared to (-) 3.1 per cent as on July 31.

The report noted that the overall credit to medium enterprises and credit to micro and small enterprises under priority sector lending in August may be attributed to the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme announced in May under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package of the government and the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) liquidity support measures.

As on September 29, the total amount sanctioned under the scheme by public sector banks (PSBs) and private banks to MSMEs and individuals stands at Rs 1.86 lakh crore, of which Rs 1.32 lakh crore has already been disbursed.

Also Read: India’s Economy Shrinks by 23.9%

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Business India News

Traders body wants digital payment to curb infection through currency

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday said that the RBI had affirmed the possibility of currency notes as potential carriers of novel coronavirus and demanded government incentives for digital payments.

The development comes after CAIT wrote a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman on March 9, 2020 seeking clarification whether or not currency notes are carriers of bacteria and viruses.

However, the letter was forwarded to the Reserve Bank of India, which replied to CAIT and hinted that currency notes could be carriers of bacteria and viruses, including coronavirus, and therefore more and more usage of digital payments should be done to avoid handling of currency, the confederation said in a statement.

The RBI further stated that “in order to limit the coronavirus pandemic, the public can make payments by sitting at homes through various online digital channels like mobile and Internet banking, credit and debit cards etc and avoid using or withdrawing cash to the extent possible”.

According to CAIT National President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, the RBI’s reply indicates that the currency notes do carry viruses and bacteria and, therefore, the maximum use of digital payments to avoid handling of currency notes was advised by them.

Furthermore, the CAIT urged Sithraman to introduce an ‘incentive’ scheme for acceptance and adoption of digital payments.

“Bank charges levied for digital transactions should be waived and the government should give subsidy directly to the banks in lieu of bank charges,” the statement said.

“In due course, such subsidy will not be a financial burden on the government; on the other hand, it will minimise the expenses incurred on printing of bank notes.”

In addition, the CAIT pointed out that the RBI in its annual report released on August 29, 2019 had mentioned that “the value and volume of notes in circulation increased by 17 per cent and 6.2 per cent to Rs 21,109 billion and 108,759 million pieces respectively during 2018-19”.

“In value terms, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes, which had together accounted for 80.2 per cent of the total value of notes in circulation at the end of March 2018 had increased to 82.2 per cent by the end of March 2019.

Also Read: RBI sets up Payments Infrastructure Development Fund

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Business India News

‘India needs to move beyond raw material export’

Union Minister of Railways and Commerce, Piyush Goyal (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS)

Union minister Piyush Goyal has said that India needs to move beyond exporting raw materials and improve its manufacturing capabilities to supply high-quality products to the world.

He said that ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ effectively is all about building Indian capabilities, quality, scale, implementing good manufacturing practices, bringing best of technologies along with improving the standards that Indians expect in India.

Goyal said in a video posted on his Twitter handle that India will have to identify areas in which it can excel and become a major global supplier.

“We will have to identify areas where sensible policies can help us get there. As the Prime Minister said on August 15, look at areas where we need to create value…where we can go beyond exporting raw materials,” the minister said.

Elucidating his stress on exporting more of finished products compared to raw materials he said that China’s production of steel is way higher than India and it imports iron ore from India, although it has its own reserves.

“India at 100 million tonnes of steel, China at 800 million tonnes of steel and even then I think we are the second largest manufacturer. Look at the gap and we are exporting iron ore to China,” he said.

“I am told China has iron ore but they are conserving it. Can we think of some smart options?”

He also said India can provide a “true partnership” to the world in terms of supplies and make the global supply chain more resilient and foolproof.

Also Read: Tesla to enter India next year

Also Read: India’s merchandise exports grow over 5% in Sep

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Business

Mahindra launches all new Thar

Thar SUV (Photo: @Mahindra_Thar /Twitter)

Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Friday launched the all-new Thar SUV.

According to the company, the all-new Thar will be available in two trims, “AX” and “LX”, with prices starting at Rs 9.80 lakh for the AX series and Rs 12.49 lakh for the LX series.

It comes with two engine options, the “2.0L mStallion TGDi” petrol engine, and “the 2.2L mHawk” diesel engine.

“These engines are offered with a choice of 6-speed manual transmission or 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission, with an authentic 4×4 manual shift transfer case with a low ratio,” the company said in a statement.

As per the statement, test drives for the all-new Thar will begin in phases, starting with 18 cities from Friday.

“The company will add 100 more cities on October 10, and test drives for the rest of the county will be available from October 15,” the statement said.

It has been designed and engineered in India and manufactured out of Mahindra’s Nashik plant. The deliveries of the SUV will commence from November 1, 2020.

Also Read: Tesla to enter India next year

Also Read: DP world, Jafza, CII discuss auto sector revival

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Business USA

Tesla to enter India next year

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (File photo: IANS)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that the electric car maker is finally ready to enter the India market in 2021.

Musk revealed his plans to bring Tesla cars to India in his response to a Twitter post that asked about the progress on Tesla’s planned entry into India.

“Next year for sure,” Musk said in response to the tweet that posted pictures of T-shirts with “India wants Tesla” and “India loves Tesla” printed on them.

“Thanks for waiting,” he added.

On several occasions earlier, Musk had revealed that he would like to bring Tesla to India, but in a 2018 Twitter post he cited “some challenging government regulations” as a hurdle.

He also criticised the foreign direct investment norms for the delay in the electric car maker’s entry into the Indian market.

“Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately,” Musk had tweeted in response to a Twitter user who wrote “No Tesla in India” on his Twitter handle.

In July this year, he hinted at allowing Tesla’s Indian fans to drive an electric Model 3 “hopefully soon”.

In response to a query by a follower who booked the car four years ago, Musk replied that the “launch should hopefully happen soon”.

However, Friday’s tweet gives a more definitive timeline of Tesla’s possible India entry.

This comes at a time when India is ramping up charging infrastructure for electric vehicles with the aim of significantly increasing the proportion of electric vehicles plying on the roads.

In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tesla headquarters at Palo Alto, California and met Musk who gave Modi a tour of the company’s electric car plant.

Tesla has not launched any of its electric cars in India or any other country in South Asia yet. The only Asian market where Tesla has a presence is China.

Also Read: Musk thanks team as Tesla’s M cap hits $420 bn

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Business India News

India’s merchandise exports grow over 5% in Sep

Union Minister of Railways and Commerce, Piyush Goyal (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS)

Amid a push for a self-reliant India and growth of domestic industries, the country’s merchandise exports registered a 5.27 per cent growth in September on a year-on-year basis, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

Total merchandise exports from India stood at $27.40 billion last month, compared to $26.02 billion in September 2019.

In a tweet, the minister cited the growth in exports as another indicator of the recovery of Indian economy amid the pandemic.

“Make in India, Make for the World: Indian merchandise exports grow 5.27 per cent in Sep 20 as compared to last year. Another indicator of the rapid recovery of Indian economy as it surpasses pre-COVID levels across parameters,” he tweeted.

Also Read: India’s Steel Exports To China Hit New Highs