DoP got payments bank license. Let's see Dos and Don'ts of payments banks

Dos of payments banks

* Has to use the word ‘Payments Bank’ in its name to differentiate from other banks

* Accept demand deposits, i.e., current deposits, and savings bank deposits from individuals, small businesses and other entities

* To hold a maximum balance of Rs one lakh per individual customer.

* Will be allowed to set up branches, ATMs, BCs

* Allowed to issue debit cards also offer internet banking

* Can accept a large pool of money to be remitted but at the end of the day the balance should not exceed Rs one lakh

* Can accept remittances to be sent to or receive remittances from multiple banks

* Permitted to handle cross border remittance transactions in the nature of personal payments / remittances on the current account

* Allowed to distribute mutual fund products, insurance products and pension products

* Bank can also undertake utility bill payments

Don’ts of payments banks

* No NRI deposits should be accepted 

* Cannot issue credit card

* Not allowed to set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities 

* Other financial and non-financial services activities of the promoters should not be mingled with the working of payment banks

Indumatee Media Essay Competition 2016

Indumatee Media Essay Competition 2016

Indumatee Media is conducting Indumatee Media Essay Competition for School and College Students and it is an annual competition. Indumatee Media Essay Competition is an initiative of Indumatee Media which provides services of Publication of Books, Anthologies, Magazines, Online Portals and other services. Indumatee Media operates three Web Portals www.odishabook.com (Online Portal),  www.odishakatha.com (Bilingual Online Portal) and www.indiajobsbook.com (Online Job Portal) respectively. 

The best essays are published in an anthology with an ISBN No. Top Winners are selected and receive prize (Cash/gift hampers), award certificate and free copy of the anthology. 

Indumatee Media Essay Competition invites School and College Students to send essays. 

Guidelines & Rules of Essay Competition: 

1. Contest is open to Students of India.  

2. Entries must be in English language and the original work of the Student. 

3. No registration and no entry fee. 

4. Competition will be for School & College Students. 

5. Qualification is School Students of Classes 8th to 12th / Students pursuing ITI or Diploma/ College Students pursuing Graduate, B.E or B. Tech, MBBS, LLB. 

6. The Essay must be between 700 and 1000 words. 

7. Essays may be about any topic and in any form and unpublished work. 

8. Essays should not be a translation of another writer’s work. 

9. The essay should be sent in the word format with 12 font size or hand written, single-sided with pages numbered and title as a header on first page. It should carry the name of the author, date of birth, qualification, Father/ Guardian’s name, Address, Mobile number/Telephone number (along with STD code) and e mail ID. 

10. The author will be solely responsible for any violation of the Copyright Act where the material submitted for the competition is not original. 

11. Entry should be an individual effort and not a combined work. 

12. The Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 

13. We hold the rights to cancel any entry without any prior information and clarification. 

14. The Anthology publication will include 15 to 20 Essays. If your essay published in that year's anthology, you will be notified and we will ask you to send a photo of yourself and a brief biography. 

15. Last date of receipt of entries is 20th October, 2015. Entries received after this date will not be considered. 

16. Winners will be notified via e-mail or by phone/ post. 

17. Please send your Essays by Post and mark your envelope “Indumatee Media Essay Competition 2016” and send it to Akshaya Sahoo, C/o- Indumatee Media, Gajendrapur, KalashreeGopalpur, Jajpur-754292, Odisha. 

18. Online submissions will be accepted also, may send submissions by e-mail to indumateemediacompetitions@gmail.com 

19. Winners will be announced within two months after the deadline for competition. 

20. The winners will be announced on the Odishabook.com website. 

21. Cash Prizes will be Pay through Cheque/Draft/Money order and Gift Hampers, certificate which will be sent via Regd. post or courier. 

22. Comments or questions about the Indumatee Media Essay competition are welcome. Please write to indumateemediastudentawards@gmail.com

Official Link:

http://www.odishabook.com/Aticle/Education/Scholarships-and-Competitions/2015/08/20/Indumatee-Media-Essay-Competition-2016

A Web-Based Portal VIZ. Vidya Lakshmi (www.vidyalakshmi.co.in) Launched for Students Seeking Educational Loans

A Web-Based Portal VIZ. Vidya Lakshmi (www.vidyalakshmi.co.in) Launched for Students Seeking Educational Loans;

First Portal of Its Kind Providing Single Window for Students to Access Information and Make Application for Educational Loans Provided by Banks as well as for Government Scholarships

A web-based portal viz. Vidya Lakshmi (www.vidyalakshmi.co.in) was launched on the occasion of Independence Day i.e. 15th August, 2015 for the benefit of students seeking Educational Loans. The Portal has been developed and maintained by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov) under the guidance of Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

Earlier the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget for 2015-16inter-alia had proposed to set-up a fully IT based Student Financial Aid Authority to administer and monitor Scholarship as well as Educational Loan Schemes, through the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram (PMVLK) to ensure that no student misses out on higher education for lack of funds. The launch of the aforesaid Portal is a first step towards achieving this objective,

Vidya Lakshmi Portal is a first of its kind portal providing single window for Students to access information and make application for Educational Loans provided by Banks as also Government Scholarships. The Portal has the following features:

•  Information about Educational Loan Schemes of Banks;
•  Common Educational Loan Application Form for Students;
•  Facility to apply to multiple Banks for Educational Loans;
•  Facility for Banks to download Students’ Loan Applications;
•  Facility for Banks to upload loan processing status;
•  Facility for Students to email grievances/queries relating to Educational 
•  Loans to Banks;
•  Dashboard facility for Students to view status of their loan application and 
•  Linkage to National Scholarship Portal for information and application for 
•  Government Scholarships.

So far, 13 Banks have registered 22 Educational Loan Schemes on the Vidya Lakshmi Portal and 5 Banks viz; SBI, IDBI Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank & Union Bank of India have integrated their system with the Portal for providing loan processing status to students. This initiative aims to bring on board all Banks providing Educational Loans. It is expected that students throughout the country will be benefited by this initiative of the Government by making available a single window for access to various Educational Loan Schemes of all Banks.

Source : PIB Release, 20.08.2015

Payment banks and the opportunity at the bottom of pyramid

Payment banks and the opportunity at the bottom of pyramid

The Reserve Bank of India yesterday announced it was granting 11 licences for setting up of payment banks.

The central bank last year had mooted the idea of a payment bank, an entity that would serve functions such as allowing customers to open small savings accounts (up to Rs 1 lakh deposit limit), have debit cards issued against them, make transfers and carry out internet banking transactions.

The RBI yesterday granted licences to a clutch of companies and individuals of various backgrounds: ranging from telecom firms (Airtel, Vodafone, AB Nuvo, which runs Idea Cellular, and Reliance Industries, which is to launch Reliance Jio this year) to financial services companies (Chola, micro lender Fino Paytech, depository NSDL) and tech startups (Paytm) to the Indian postal service.

Calling it "one of the most exciting spaces" for the banking system, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today said payments bank would complement the core banking sector by improving last-mile connectivity services and help push financial inclusion.

(Payment banks will differ from traditional banks in three ways: they cannot lend or issue credit cards and customer deposits will have to be necessarily kept in safe SLR securities.)

But very clearly, the most exciting part of the development is no one knows how business models of payment banks will evolve. Governor Rajan was the first one to admit that and it shows in the central bank's thinking when it gave away licences to companies and individuals belong to diverse fields.

For instance, stats available till before the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana rollout showed more than half the country's residents did not have access to formal banking services, but nearly everyone today has a mobile phone.

The reason for the above situation is simple: wieldy banks found it unprofitable to foray into the hinterland in a big way (imagine the cost of putting up even a small bank branch) butnimbler telecom companies -- through their mom-and-pop retail channel -- did.

That's exactly where payment banks come in: a cross between technology and financial services. The tens of millions of telecom customers in the country, with their KYC requirements already cleared, may automatically qualify to become an account owner.

Telecom companies have already expressed a desire of tying with traditional banks in order to expedite rollout of services.

Paytm, which started off as a payment service before rolling out an ecommerce service, has about 100 million registered users, with many turning into a potential payment bank customer.

The joker in the pack is India Post, with its 1.5 lakh branches almost entirely spread across rural India, which could adopt technology in a big way and make a financial services foray into areas where banks have feared to tread.

But one thing is clear: the idea of a payment bank will have to be led primarily by a technology push rather than a banking push. (Since payment banks cannot lend, their profit margins will also be low, making it even more necessary for the need to use greater technology.)

"I believe technology companies find it easier to learn other about other business than other business can learn about technology," Paytm co-founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma told CNBC-TV18, adding that such companies will help make a resolute push towards reaching out to the unbanked.

Sharma also said traditional banks had been slow to adopt to changing customer preferences.

His argument is borne out by the fact that banks have shied away from rolling out services to those at the bottom of the pyramid.

It shows in the fact that almost all staple savings account services, especially from private banks, have hefty balance maintenance requirements. The KYC process, too, remains cumbersome with only a handful opting for use of greatertechnology.

"Consumers are readily adopting mobile as a way to transact. So consumers are changing. Maybe it is the banks that need to catch up," he said.

Perhaps it will be innovations such as payment banks that will force them to change.

Source : moneycontrol.com

Demand of One Rank One Pension by Defence, Railway, CG Employees vs New Pension Scheme: Opinion on LiveMint

Demand of One Rank One Pension by Defence, Railway, CG Employees vs New Pension Scheme: Opinion on LiveMint -

How we should think about the One Rank One Pension issue

One parity we should be discussing is parity with central government employees who have been moved to a defined contribution scheme from defined benefit since 2004

Each of us has some link at a family level, direct or indirect, with the armed forces. A parent, a brother, an uncle, a cousin, a son, or a nephew. At a personal level, we know the first-hand stories of a wife not knowing if an ‘exercise’ will end in a dead husband. Of a father not knowing if the next landmine will have his son’s name on it. At a societal level, we can’t forget the border battles, and much closer home, the comforting presence of the army trucks and the green helmets as they rolled in after the 1984 riots to calm fires in West Delhi residential clusters. Can’t forget that when everything else fails in civic life, the army is called in to restore order. The army is called in not just to maintain order, but even for things like making that foot over-bridge that kept collapsing before the Commonwealth Games. And we have to only look over to our immediate northwest to see what damage an army can do to a nation.

How can the nation then say no to the one demand that the men in uniform are making—give us enough when we remove the uniform and lead civilian lives? The heart says it should be done. So why the delay? It could be that the answer is not always that simple. The One Rank One Pension (OROP) issue that seeks to index old pensioners to benefits that current ones get, has got all the ingredients of a perfect bomb: an emotive issue, kicked around by cynical politics of an outgoing government promising something it knew it would not be responsible for, an aspiring change maker who did not understand the multi-dimensional issue that OROP is and making a promise to implement it. And now a public stand-off between the veterans and the government.

Why is the issue so difficult to deal with? Why not just give the armed forces what they want? The issue is complicated on two counts (there are many other issues, of course, but I think these two are key). One, the country does not have the money over time to fund a rising bill of defined benefit (DB) pensions. DB pensions give the person retiring a certain percentage of his last salary, keeping in mind the number of years worked. DB schemes are ultimately un-fundable since declining populations find fewer people funding larger and larger numbers of the retired. Many countries across the world are in the process of moving away from DB plans. Two, and even more disastrously, OROP will open the doors for similar demands from other groups. Do Central Reserve Police Force soldiers deserve any less? What about the Indo-Tibetan Border Police? And the police? The first off the block has been the railway unions demanding OROP. “Railwaymen are performing dedicated service for the nation. Railway is the lifeline of the country. Employees are working round the clock across the country,” the general secretary of All India Railwaymen’s Federation was quoted as saying in a newspaper report. Other unions are waiting and watching, and once OROP is announced, expect a deluge of protests and court cases for parity.

The one parity we should be discussing today is parity with central government employees who have been moved to a defined contribution (DC) scheme from a DB since 2004. DC schemes put control of the future in the hands of the individual and what the state needs to do is design an efficient system that is fair to the social security seeker. India has a state of the art DC vehicle in the National Pension System (NPS). The costs are wafer-thin, the products are few so as to not freeze choice, and there is no fund manager risk since equity investing is restricted to index funds. For those unwilling or unable to choose the right fund, there is a default lifecycle fund that reduces equity as the person ages and moves into safer debt. The government should use the current focus on pensions to negotiate the move from DB to NPS for all categories of pensioners—those already on a DB, but, as was done with the civil services, from a given date, all new employees move to the NPS.

The armed forces have almost seven decades of goodwill banked, but an uncompromising demand irrespective of the consequences may change this equation. Unhappily for us, there are no recent academic studies that show what state pensions cost the nation. There is a 2006 paper that has some estimates (which are scary) and can be read here: http://mintne.ws/1J0DNWx . Even this old study clearly showed that DB pensions are unsustainable. Now to open the door for OROP for all categories of government employees will be a fiscal disaster for India. A more middle-of-the-road solution may be the only one that is sustainable without derailing the future of the country. No person who has defended the country against the dushman will want to see the country ship out gold one more time because OROP has opened the doors to a future that is unsustainable. If a middle-of-the-road solution is not acceptable, we only need to look west once again. This time, a little further than our immediate neighbour, to Greece, and see what runaway benefit bills can do to a nation. And because of the colour coding rules of the world, India should not expect the global multilateral agencies to expend the same kid gloves that Greece has been dealt with.

Monika Halan works in the area of financial literacy and financial intermediation policy and is a certified financial planner. She is editor, Mint Money, Yale World Fellow 2011 and on the board of FPSB India. She can be reached at expenseaccount@livemint.com

Read at LiveMint

Read more: http://www.staffnews.in/2015/08/demand-of-one-rank-one-pension-by.html#ixzz3jKDEPsAd
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Share Alike
Follow us: @karnmk on Twitter | cgenews on Facebook

Filed your income tax returns? Go ahead and e-verify I-T

There seems to be a general aversion towards e-verification of returns, a process introduced this year by the Income Tax Department that makes tax-filing fully paperless. 

Till last year, if you did not have a digital signature, you had to send a copy of the ITR V to the Central Processing Centre in Bengaluru.From this year, the tax department has introduced an alternate way of paperless e-filing via Electronic Verification Code (EVC). The 10-digit EVC code can be generated through your net banking account, linking your Aadhaar card, using ATMs or even by registering your email or mobile number on the income tax website. However, there seems to be a general aversion to e-verifying among taxpayers. 

According to the income tax department's website, among the total 62.19 lakh returns files, only 12.8 lakh taxpayers have used the e-verification route so far. "The method is not complicated and most of the taxpayers who e-file are tech-savvy. So, there seems to be a lack of awareness," says Sudhir Kaushik, Cofounder and CFO of Taxspanner.com. 

Here are the various ways in which you can generate the EVC. 

REGISTER E-MAIL 

The taxpayer can generate an EVC by login into the income tax e-filing website--http:www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. However, this mode can be used only if the total income, that is before applying any deductions, is Rs 5 lakh or below and there is no refund claim. After you log in and opt for e-filing, you can request for the code by clicking on the "Generate EVC" option. The site will ask you to choose between--e-filing OTP or EVC through Net banking. Click on the former and a one-time-password (OTP) will be sent to your mobile number or registered e-mail ID. Use this code under the e-verify option given on the site and complete your tax-return process. 

NET BANKING 

If your total income is more than rs 5 lakhs or if there is refund, you have only one option--EVC through net banking. When you select this options, you'll be redirected to a page with the list of banks available for net banking Login. If your bank has authorised by the income tax department for providing direct access to the government's e-filing website, the name should be here and you should be able to log in using your internet-banking ID and password.Also, your PAN must have been validated via KYC. The EVC will be sent to your bank-registered mobile number. "This will be a big relief to NRIs who do not have digital signatures and faced a lot of problem with mailing physical ITR-Vs," says Preeti Khurana, Chief Content Editor, ClearTax.in.

Some banks have been registered for generating EVC using your debit or credit card via ATM machines.However, the channel seems to be not working. This is also not the best way and the net banking route is much simpler. 

AADHAAR NUMBER 

For this, your Aadhaar card and PAN should be linked. If the two are not linked income tax department's website show a pop-up and you simply have to fill in your Aadhaar number on the redirected page to link the two. Once linked, an OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number which is valid for next 10 minutes.

Source:-The Economic Times

RBI grants in-principle nod for 11 payments banks

Payment banks allow mobile firms, supermarket chains, and others to cater to individuals and small businesses.

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday granted ‘in-principle’ approval to 11 entities, including Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Vodafone and Airtel, to set up payments banks and proposed such licences ‘on tap’ in future.

The other entities which have been given ‘in-principle’ approval are Department of Posts, Cholamandalam Distribution Services, Tech Mahindra, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), Fino PayTech, Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi and PayTM’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

“The ‘in-principle’ approval granted will be valid for a period of 18 months, during which time the applicants have to comply with the requirements under the guidelines and fulfil the other conditions as may be stipulated by the Reserve Bank,” RBI said in a statement.

Going forward, RBI said the central bank would use the learning from this licensing round to appropriately revise the guidelines and move to give licences more regularly, virtually “on tap”.

Payment banks allow mobile firms, supermarket chains, and others to cater to individuals and small businesses.

The Payments Bank will be set up as a differentiated bank and shall confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, Internet banking and other specified services.

Payments Banks will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs. 1 lakh per individual customer.

They will be allowed to issue ATM/debit cards as also other prepaid payment instruments, but not the credit cards.

These banks can also distribute non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual funds and insurance products.

They will not be allowed to undertake lending services and non resident Indians will not be allowed to open accounts.

RBI further said that on being satisfied that the 11 applicants have complied with the requisite conditions as part of ‘in-principle’ approval, it would consider granting to them a licence for commencement of banking business.

Until a regular licence is issued, the applicants can not undertake any banking business, the central bank added.

Draft guidelines for licencing of payments banks were released for public comments and the final guidelines were issued on November 27, 2014.

A total of 41 applicants had applied for payments banks.

Differentiated banking entails going beyond the current universal banking framework to serve specific purposes.

The move to allow such differentiated banks came after RBI had found just two entities — infra player IDFC and micro-lender Bandhan from among over two dozen applicants — eligible for setting up commercial banks.

The central bank issued this limited set of licences on April 1, 2014, after a decade. Both applicants are yet to begin operations even after a year as they have time till October.

Commercial banks comprise 27 public sector banks, 20 private, 44 foreign, 4 local area banks and 56 regional rural banks.

On the selection process, RBI said a detailed scrutiny was undertaken by an External Advisory Committee (EAC) under the chairmanship of Nachiket Mor, Director, Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India.

The recommendations of the EAC were an input to an Internal Screening Committee (ISC), consisting of the Governor and four Deputy Governors.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/rbi-grants-inprinciple-nod-for-11-payments-banks/article7557908.ece

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Recruitment for Constable / DCPO Posts 2015

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has published a Advertisement for below mentioned Posts 2015. Check below for more details.

Posts : Constable / DCPO

Total No. of Posts : 156 Posts

Educational Qualification :

• The candidate should have passed Matriculation or equivalent qualification from a recognized Board.
• Educational certificate other than State Board/Central Board should be accompanied with Government of India notification declaring that such qualification is equivalent to Matric / 10th class pass for service under Central Government.

Age Limit : 21 to 27 years

Pay Scale: Rs.5200-20200 + Grade Pay Rs.2000/-

Selection Process : Candidates will be selected based on interview.

Physical Standards:

Advertisement : Click Here

Application Form : Click Here

Last Date : 03-10-2015

80,000 officers, staff of PSU banks to retire in 2 years

News : 80,000 Officers Vacancies In PSU Banks, Expected In Next 2 Years  :

This is a very good news for all banking aspirants who are striving to get job in PSU Banks, this news which will put banking aspirants in their euphoria. It will invigorate their will like rising again from the ashes of phoenix. It is another opportunity which every aspirant wants to seize. So Guys fasten your seat belts and start your preparation to get your dream job with full throttle!

Around 80,000 vacancies are expected to open at top public sector banks in the country, including State Bank of India, as a large number of officers and staff will superannuate over the next two years.

As many as 78,800 employees will retire during the current fiscal and next fiscal, official sources said. During the current financial year, 39,756 employees are retiring. This includes 19,065 officers and 14,669 clerks, sources said.

Besides, 6,022 sub-staff would also get superannuated this fiscal year. About 39,000 employees would be retiring next fiscal. Of this, 18,506 officers and 14,458 clerks would retire from their service from various public sector banks.

There are 22 state-owned banks in India including SBI, IDBI Bank and Bharatiya Mahila Bank. Besides, there are five associate banks of SBI. Considering vast vacancy in the middle-level position, the government is planning to provide some flexibility in the recruitment.

The Finance Ministry is going to provide flexibility with regard to recruitment at the middle level. Currently, they can hire on contractual basis. Public sector banks undertake recruitment of staff to fill vacancies on ongoing basis as per their requirements depending upon business volume, business growth employee strength and retirement among others.

Last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said banks are extremely keen in campus recruitments, but there are legal difficulties. "The banks are extremely keen to do that (campus hiring)...there is now judgement of the Supreme Court which is not giving adequate flexibility to government banks how to do it and that is handicapped which the banks have flagged. We are examining the legal position. But as of today there is a legal impediments in that," he had said.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Observance of Sadbhavana Diwas on 20th August, 2015

UPSC (Exemption from Consultation) Amendment Regulations, 2015

Click here to view