Reliance says to launch British chain Pret A Manger in India
India's Reliance Industries announced on Thursday a franchise partnership with Pret A Manger to launch and build the British sandwich and coffee chain in India, marking the company's foray into the booming food and beverage industry.
Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) will open the food chain across the country, starting with major cities, it said in a statement.
Reliance will open the first Pret store in Mumbai, India's financial capital, before March 2023, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters.
The companies expect India to become one of Pret's top three markets in the world within three years, the source added, declining to be named as the plans are not public.
Pret is owned by investment group JAB and founder Sinclair Beecham. Run by one of India's richest men Mukhesh Ambani, Reliance, through RBL, already has a number of partnerships with global luxury brands such as Burberry and Jimmy Choo via franchises and joint ventures.
The new 2022 Maruti Suzuki Brezza has been launched in India today (June 30) and is among one of the most awaited launches in the Indian market this year. The Maruti Suzuki Brezza is also the most important and premium launches from the India's largest car market. The previous gen Vitara Brezza was one of the best selling SUVs in India across and clocked a cumulative sales of 7.5 lakh vehicles in India. The model was known to offer frugal engine, good cabin space and Maruti's peace of mind, but was losing its charm against new age products like the Tata Nexon and Kia Sonet, esp in terms of features. The company has realised that a freshened-up Vitara Brezza is the need of the hour to take over the top spot once again and so, 2022 Maruti Suzuki Brezza has been launched on June 30 (today). Here's the LIVE launch blog of the new SUV:
On the outside, the updated model will don a host of changes over the model it replaces. The front end is an all-new affair, with slender-looking LED headlamps. The bull bar effect on the front bumper is prominent. Sideways, a set of new alloy wheels are visible, along with some changes to the silhouette, which certainly is more proportionate this time. The rear quarter glass has increased in size, and the floating effect for the roof makes the compact SUV look premium. The tailgate is a new unit too. It features revised creases and tail lamps. On the whole, the updated model has a beefier presence in contrast to the model it replaces.
New Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza - Interior
The cabin of the upcoming 2022 Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza will see a sense of fresh air. The dashboard will be revised to house a free-standing 9.0-inch infotainment unit. Also, the AC vents will move lower down the dashboard. New seats are also expected to be seen on the facelifted model, but the dark theme will be carried forward from the outgoing version.
A slew of new features will be seen on the updated Vitara Brezza. The list will include an electronic sunroof, a larger 9.0-inch SmartPlay Pro infotainment unit, a 360-degree parking camera and more. The head-up display and ventilated front seats could also be made available on the new Vitara Brezza. Other highlights on the inside will include a new instrument cluster, automatic climate control, a premium sound system and more.
New Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza - Specifications
The 1.5L naturally-aspirated petrol motor will power the 2022 Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Anticipated to be offered in the same state of tune as the newly-launched Ertiga, it will boast a peak power output of 103 bhp and 136.8 Nm of max torque. Transmission options will include a 6-speed AT and 6-speed MT. The former will also get steering-mounted paddle shifters. Dimensionally, things are likely to remain unchanged. However, slight increments in width and height are expected.
New Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza - Expected Price
Once launched, it will continue to rival the likes of the Kia Sonet, Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger, and Mahindra XUV300. Expect the 2022 Vitara Brezza to start from around Rs 7.99 lakh, (ex-showroom).
Day trading guide for Thursday: Following weak global cues, Indian stocks ended in negative territory on Wednesday after two days of gains. Nifty 50 index ended 51 points lower at 15,799 while BSE Sensex shed 150 points and closed at 53,026 levels. Nifty Bank index dipped 372 points and closed at 33,269 mark. However, despite ending in red zone, Indian stock market was among the best performers in Asian markets.
According to stock market experts weakness in global markets is mainly due to growing fears that policymakers bent on dampening inflation will tip their economies into recession. They said that minor degree of positive sequence like higher tops and bottoms is intact on the daily chart and current weakness could in line with the formation of new higher bottom of the sequence. There is no confirmation of any higher bottom reversal as of now.
Day trading strategy for stock market today
Speaking on day trading strategy for Nifty today, Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities said, "The short term trend of Nifty continues to be choppy with negative bias. The present range bound movement could continue for the next 1-2 sessions and immediate supports for NSE Nifty to be watched around 15,600 to 15,650 levels. On the flip side, a decisive move above 15,850 to 15,900 levels is likely to open a sustainable upside for the market."
"The Bank Nifty index has relatively underperformed in last few sessions to the benchmark. However, the crucial support in the index is placed around the 33000 mark and if the index manages to hold this support, then a recovery could be expected in the banking space as well in the near term. On the other hand, the Nifty Midcap100 index is trading around its crucial hurdle of ’20 DEMA’ and hence one should keep a close tab on the same. Above 26900, the midcap space too could then witness participation on the long side," said Ruchit Jain, Lead Research at 5paisa.com.
Day trading stocks
Sharing intraday stocks for today, stock market experts — Rajesh Bhosale, Technical Analyst at Angel One Ltd; Mehul Kothari, AVP — Technical Research at Anand Rathi and Avinash Gorakshkar, Head of Research at Profitmart Securities — recommended 6 stocks to buy today.
Rajesh Bhosale's intraday stocks for today
1] Sobha: Buy around ₹556, target ₹581, stop loss ₹537
2] Gujarat State Petronet Ltd or GSPL: Buy around ₹216, target ₹228, stop loss ₹210
Mehul Kothari's stocks to buy today
3] Tata Power: Buy around ₹208, target ₹218, stop loss ₹201
4] HDFC Bank: Buy around ₹1345, target ₹1380, stop loss ₹1320
Avinash Gorakshkar's stocks picks for Thursday
5] ONGC: Buy at CMP, target ₹168, stop loss ₹147
6] Ashok Leyland: Momentum buy at CMP, target ₹160, stop loss ₹140.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint.
Doing nothing in a fast-paced world that is busy chasing success and other material pursuits is nothing short of a dream. Andrew Formica, the CEO of Jupiter Fund Management PLC, has realised this dream, something which many have been aiming for since time immemorial.
Formica who resigned from the USD 67.9 billion asset managing company said, “I just want to go sit at the beach and do nothing,” as quoted by Bloomberg.
Formica made headlines after he suddenly announced that he was leaving USD 67.9 billion asset managing company which he joined in 2019. During a telephonic interview, he said that he was resigning due to personal reasons and also to be closer to his parents. Interestingly, he said that he will hit the beach during Australia’s summer season and simply do nothing.
Following his announcement, Jupiter Fund Management issued a statement confirming the news. “Andrew has always been clear with the Board that his longer-term plans would involve the relocation back to his native Australia with his family,” the company said in a statement.
The 51-year-old will formally leave the position on October 1 and he will also step down as the director of the London-based company. Formica will be succeeded by Matthew Beesly, who is currently the company’s chief investment officer.
MORE STORIES FOR YOU✕
« Back to recommendation stories
“I am proud to have worked with such a fantastic and dedicated team as we navigated an extremely challenging period for the business and markets,” Formica said in his statement.
Formica who has been living in the UK for over three decades joined Jupiter in March 2019. Before joining he worked with Janus Henderson Group PLC. A seasoned asset manager, Formica has over 27 years of experience in the investment management industry. From equity fund manager to head of equity, Formica has held several positions during his career.
Udaan | Valuation: $3.1 billion | City: Bengaluru | Industry: Supply chain, logistics, & delivery | Select investors: DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Microsoft ScaleUp (In the image: Udaan founders)
B2B e-commerce unicorn Udaan has laid off around 180 employees, which is approximately 4-5 percent of the workforce, according to sources close to the developments. The company had an employee strength of around 4,000 before the layoffs.
“We have taken various steps to enhance efficiency, refine our cost structure, and grow faster in our journey to achieve strong unit economics. However, the efficiency enhancement exercise has also resulted in certain redundancies in the system, with some roles no longer required,” said a company spokesperson.
“On the other hand, as part of the long-term plans of the organisation, we continue to hire talent for the new roles that have been created to grow the business faster,” he added.
Udaan last raised equity funding in January 2020, when it was valued at $3.1 billion. Its investors include DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and GGV Capital, among others.
Founded in 2016 by three former executives of Flipkart -- Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya, and Sujeet Kumar -- the company has operations across categories including lifestyle, electronics, home & kitchen, staples, fruits & vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys, and general merchandise.
In September last year, the company said that Gupta has been appointed as the CEO in line with the evolution needed to become a publicly listed company in 18-24 months. Before the announcement, there wasn't a CEO structure in place with the three co-founders divvying up responsibilities.
Notably, Udaan’s valuation crawled from $2.8 billion in 2019 to $3 billion in January 2021 compared to other e-commerce peers – unlike its previous euphoric rise – largely due to the pandemic, Moneycontrol reported last year.
Lightspeed, traditionally an early-stage investor, has bet big on Udaan, investing over $300 million from its India and global funds (its investments in other companies are a fraction of that amount).
Lightspeed India head Bejul Somaia and his US colleagues were said to have spent a significant amount of time sorting out Udaan’s issues, wanting to steady the fortunes of an outsized bet.
Earlier this year, Udaan said it has over 3 million users, 1.7 million retailers, and 30,000 sellers on the platform across the country.
The platform enables supply chain and logistics operations focused on B2B trade and is built on strong technology, for daily delivery across 900+ cities and 12,000+ pin codes through udaanExpress.
It enables financial products and services to small businesses, manufacturers, and retailers through udaanCapital to grow their business.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.on Tuesday announced its decision to keep its Boots Pharmacy chain and No7 Beauty Company businesses under its existing ownership, following “unexpected and dramatic change” in the global financial markets since launching the sales process in January as part of a strategic review of operations.
Earlier this month, Reliance Industries Limited together with private equity group Apollo Global Management Inc made a firm and fully financed offer to buy Boots – Britain’s biggest pharmacy chain – for $6.3 billion, much lower than original 7 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) price tag that was sought by Walgreens. The Reliance-Apollo offer also involved Wallgreens retaining a “significant” minority stake in the company.
If successful, this would have been the largest cross border acquisition for Mukesh Ambani led RIL.
“Since launching the process, the global financial markets have suffered unexpected and dramatic change. As a result of market instability severely impacting financing availability, no third party has been able to make an offer that adequately reflects the high potential value of Boots and No7 Beauty Company. Consequently, WBA has decided that it is in the best interests of shareholders to keep focusing on the further growth and profitability of the two businesses,” the company said in a statement. “The decision to retain the businesses has also been supported by the ongoing strong performance and growth of Boots and No7 Beauty Company, which have exceeded expectations despite challenging conditions,” it further added.
The company plans to invest in the business to unlock its “unparalleled potential.” Boots has more than 2,000 stores in the UK, many of which require investment, and gets about 45% of its roughly £6 billion in annual revenues from providing services such as prescriptions and vaccinations to NHS. Another area of complexity: Its large defined-benefit pension scheme, which is in surplus but not by itself enough to allow a buyout by an insurer. Reliance and Apollo are looking at taking the Boots franchise to growth markets of Asia like India, Middle East and South East Asia.
The RIL-Apollo bid backed by financing was seen as significant as deal financing in the pound sterling market has become a challenge as UK banks have become wary of bank rolling buyouts in sectors like retail sector. Russia’s war in Ukraine, soaring inflation, coupled with monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England hiking rates stoked up a rise in borrowing costs across markets. In UK for example, the combination of factors drove up the average yield on junk corporate debt by more than 230 basis points since the start of last August, and also led to Europe’s longest drought in high-yield bond sales in over a decade.
This is believed to be a key factor behind the decision of the competing consortium backed by billionaire Issa brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who run a supermarket group Asda, and TDR Capital to first baulk at a request by Walgreens to increase their offer for the Boots drugstore chain, one of Britain’s best known retailers, and eventually pull out of the race. They are yet to re-enter the race, said people involved directly. At least two prominent potential bidders, private equity groups Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners, dropped out of the process. Sycamore Partners had also expressed interest in Boots earlier in the race, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
In Britain, supermarket chain Morissons' 7-billion-pound ($8.6 billion) takeover by U.S. buyout fund CD&R is the most notable deal that got hit as the syndication of its debt pile has been delayed by about six months. Lead banks -- Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Bank of America, Mizuho – that had fully shouldered the Morrisons financing have been left with more than 3 billion pounds of debt yet to be syndicated, according to bankers in London. They had to place a chunk of its debt worth about 1 billion pounds at a discount of around 10% to be able to sell it to private lenders, the bankers added. Even Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc has been struggling to attract bidders for its $7 billion infant nutrition unit.
Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of Canada are advisors in the deal. Law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP are the legal advisors to Reliance and Apollo.
“We have now completed a thorough review of Boots and No7 Beauty Company, with the outcome reflecting rapidly evolving and challenging financial market conditions beyond our control,” said Walgreens Chief Executive Officer, Rosalind Brewer. “The Board and I remain confident that Boots and No7 Beauty Company hold strong fundamental value, and longer term, we will stay open to all opportunities to maximize shareholder value for these businesses and across our company.”
TDS deduction will be applicable to all virtual digital asset transfers including cryptocurrencies
After the 30 per cent tax rate introduced by the Government in the Union Budget 2022-23, cryptocurrency sale transactions are set to attract additional tax deducted at source (TDS) of 1 per cent from July 1 onwards.
The TDS deduction will be applicable to all virtual digital asset (VDA) transfers including cryptocurrencies, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – worth over Rs 10,000. In the newly introduced clause 47 A of the Income Tax Act, VDA is defined as any information, code, number or token, except Indian or any other foreign currency, that is generated through cryptographic or other means. Non- Fungible or any other similar tokens are included in this definition.
A TDS deduction of 1 per cent was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2022-23. However, ambiguity over the rates arose after the income tax department website mentioned that the rate for virtual digital assets had been brought down to 0.1 per cent from the 1 per cent TDS on such assets. Clearing the air, the IT department on June 22, reiterated that TDS on virtual digital assets will remain at 1 per cent, as announced in the Union Budget.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) clarified that the onus of withholding the TDS lies with the person making the payment to the seller — a buyer, an exchange or a broker. This implied that the TDS needs to be deducted from the selling price and after deducting the TDS amount and the rest can be paid or transferred to the seller.
In instances where the transaction of VDAs is carried out directly between the buyer and sellers without the involvement or exchange of a broker, the buying party will be required to deduct the tax under Section 194S of the IT Act.
In the transfer of VDA is through a broker or an exchange, the tax deduction will be made by the exchange, which is crediting or making payment to the seller. In cases that involve a broker, who is not the seller, the onus of tax deduction will be on both the broker and the exchange, provided there's no prior written agreement between the parties.
When VDAs being sold are primarily owned by an exchange, it can enter into a written agreement with the buyer or his broker that regarding all such transactions the exchange would pay the tax.
For the transfer of VDA in exchange for kind, the buyer will be required to release the consideration in kind after the seller provides proof of payment of such tax. For VDA for VDA transactions, both buyer and seller need to pay tax with respect to the transfer of VDA and show the evidence to each other so that VDAs can then be exchanged. The transaction will then have to be reported in the TDS statement along with the challan number, by filling up Form 26Q.
India’s gig economy could employ 2.35 crore people by FY30, representing a three-and-a-half-times increase over 10 years, a report by the government think-tank NITI Aayog estimates.
The gig economy employed around 68 lakh people in FY20, India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work report released on June 27 said.
The total number of employed persons in India in FY20 is estimated to be 51.10 crore. The report expects the number to rise to 56.96 crore by FY30.
Usually temporary and part-time, gig jobs can range from food delivery to driving for ride-hailing companies such as Ola and Uber.
"At present, about 47 percent of the gig work is in medium skilled jobs, about 22 percent in high skilled, and about 31 percent in low skilled jobs," the report said.
"But the trend shows the concentration of workers in medium skills is gradually declining and that of the low skilled and high skilled is increasing. It may be expected that while the domination of medium skills would continue till 2030, gig work with other skills will emerge," the report added.
It added the caveat that given the limited availability of employment data, the estimate is "only indicative and may not represent the true size of the gig workforce".
NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant said the increasing use of smartphones and the low cost of the internet had allowed digital platforms to thrive in India, with different players offering solutions in sectors such as transport, retail, and personal and home care.
"This changing scenario calls for the need to assess the employment generation potential of the gig and platform sector and design policy measures that can invigorate efforts from different stakeholders to promote growth along with decent work opportunities in this sector," Kant added. His tenure as the NITI Aayog CEO ends June 30.
Gig work
The report defined gig workers as those who are employed "outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement". These workers broadly fall into two categories: platform and non-platform-based workers.
While platform workers are those whose work is based on online applications or digital platforms, non-platform are usually casual wage workers and own-account workers in conventional sectors, working either part-time or full time.
With no official data to precisely quantify the jobs provided by India's gig economy, the report called on the statistics ministry to conduct specific surveys.
The report also said work needs to be done to determine the contribution of the gig economy to India's GDP.
"This exercise may also enable India to unpack the pace at which platformisation is occurring across industries and what enablers and barriers might be causing the same," the report said.
Key recommendations
* A Platform India initiative to accelerate platformisation of all occupations and industries, to provide funding, incentives, skill development, and social financial inclusion may be started. This could be along the lines of the Start-up India initiative.
* The report said it was crucial to take a “light-touch regulatory approach" when it comes to platform businesses in India. As such, policies, rule, and regulations need to be simplified and streamlined. Moreover, any licensing requirements for aggregators must also be reconsidered.
* The government at the Centre and state level could create "supportive tax mechanisms" so that platform drivers can report their earnings and be taxed "fairly".
* Platform workers should be given greater access to institutional credit. Moreover, they should also be covered under the code on social security.
India’s largest digital assets exchanges are bracing for a drawn-out crypto winter — one with some unwelcome local twists.
With token prices plummeting, customers unable to transfer money to their accounts and a dreaded transaction tax on cryptocurrencies just around the corner, exchanges like Binance-backed WazirX have put expansion plans on the back burner.
“We have cut down all our non-critical costs,” said Rajagopalan Menon, WazirX’s vice president. “We are hiring only critical hires, we aren’t spending money at all. It’s literally crypto winter here,” he said, using industry jargon for an extended bear market.
WazirX isn’t alone. Rival exchanges Unocoin and BuyUcoin are also responding to vanishing trading volumes in a market that just last year ranked second in the world for crypto adoption.
That a crypto marketplace should be in cost-cutting mode is hardly a surprise — Coinbase Global Inc. and Crypto.com have announced layoffs in the last two weeks alone — but Indian exchanges face the added burden of a new tax system that executives fear will wipe out what little trading is left. WazirX’s daily volume has slumped about 95% since October, data from CoinGecko shows.
On July 1, a tax deductible at source of 1% on all digital-asset transfers above a certain size takes effect despite industry warnings that it will sap liquidity. That’s on top of an existing 30% rate on income from such assets plus a proposed value-added tax increase that’s making its way through the bureaucracy.
The government also doesn’t permit offsetting of trading losses on cryptocurrencies, treating them differently from stocks and bonds.
Adding to the pain, crypto exchanges have been largely cut off from the regular banking system since mid-April. That’s when India’s ubiquitous United Payments Interface was made unavailable to them without explanation, prompting some banks and payment gateways to also cut off service, which in turn meant traders couldn’t top up their accounts with cash.
It’s a remarkable turnaround from last year, when India was one of the world’s hottest crypto markets. The country’s cryptocurrency market expanded more than 600% in the 12 months through June 2021, according to researcher Chainalysis, which used a metric that estimates the total amount of crypto received in a country.
Crypto exchanges took out full-page ads in newspapers and signed up Bollywood stars to promote their offerings to one of the world’s youngest populations. Coinbase-backed CoinDCX became the official title sponsor of a cricket series between India and Sri Lanka.
“Last year that was the golden age,” said Menon. “We went from six programmers to 50 in seven months.” WazirX has only added “a few developers and some critical senior people” since that hiring spurt, he said.
Influencer Spending
Not everyone is hitting the brakes. CoinDCX, which raised $135 million in April from funds including Pantera Capital, isn’t planning to cut costs, Vinay Tiwari, its senior vice president for finance, said in an interview.
That makes it an outlier among exchanges.
BuyUcoin, a small bourse with 45 employees, is only hiring developers and engineers, Chief Executive Officer Shivam Thakral said. It’s also cutting spending on things like partnerships with social media influencers and eschewing mass advertising, according to Thakral. BuyUcoin’s trading volume has fallen about 80% since peaking last year, he said.
“All companies are being cautious when it comes to expenses now, same with us as well,” Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO of crypto exchange Unocoin, told Bloomberg. “We continue to hire for key positions but are not hiring for redundancy.”
Vishwanath said he’ll assess the impact of the transaction tax, known by the acronym TDS, before making any major decisions on strategy. The industry body he’s a member of unsuccessfully lobbied the government for a reduction in the TDS, he said.
With no immediate relief in sight, existing employees at WazirX may have to shoulder more work.
“If someone leaves the company, earlier replacement was near instant,” Menon said. “Now, we are checking if someone can double up for that position.”
Railway officers applying for 36 key posts such as chairman, member, or general manager (GM) will now have to take an "emotional intelligence" test, according to a senior officer privy to the development.
The online tests will be administered for the first time in the upcoming empanelment process to fill up one dozen vacant posts of GMs, the officer said, adding that test scores will determine whether the selected officer would be posted for operations or in an administrative job.
A GM, for instance, needs to undertake high-voltage field work whereas the equivalent post of director general of National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) is considered more an administrative or desk job.
"EQ (emotional quotient) test is made mandatory for selection to 36 top railway posts as part of our new empanelment process notified last month. It will be an online test for about 15-20 minutes. This tool will be used to assess personality and role fitness," the officer said, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to talk to the press.
The railways in a board resolution in May 2022 said it had decided to merge seven secretary-level posts, including railway board chairman and members as well as 29 posts, mainly GMs, to create the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) at the top of railway hierarchy. The resolution further said IRMS was created in pursuance of the cabinet decision taken back in December 2019.
The board resolution was published in the Gazette of India on May 27, 2022, and hence, it is in public domain. The resolution's annexure contains a guideline that mentions that there would be a "psychometric assessment" to judge emotional intelligence of applicants in addition to weighing in their appraisal reports as well as feedback from peers.
The guideline also noted that the EQ test would be conducted to assess personality of an officer on five scales: self-perception (an awareness of one's strength, weakness, ambitions etc.), self-expression (assertiveness, independence of thinking etc.), interpersonal skills, decision-making and stress management.
Indian Railways employs over 1.2 million people, but this test has been made mandatory only for its 36 top managers so far. "As the Railways values emotional intelligence of its officers, it is likely that such modules could be extended for selecting DRMs too in the near future," the same officer added.
Shared mobility major Ola has shut its used car division Ola Cars within eight months of its commencement, as it sharpens its focus on its electric vehicle and mobility business.
The company has also shut Ola Dash, its quick commerce arm, said people in the know.
In an official response, a company spokesperson confirmed the development and said that Ola has reassessed its priorities and decided to shut down the quick commerce business. The Ola Cars infrastructure, technology and capabilities will now “be repurposed towards growing our Ola Electric sales and service network,” said the spokesperson.
The company claimed its ride hailing business is delivering its highest ever gross merchandise value (GMV) month on month along with very strong profitability, and its young EV business has already become India’s largest EV company within months of launch.
“We’re very excited and focused on our mission to accelerate the electric revolution in India and scale our mobility services to serve 500 million Indians. With our strong balance sheet, we’re increasing our pace of investments and growth into new areas like electric cars, cell manufacturing and financial services,” added the spokesperson.
Ola launched its used cars platform last October and appointed Arun Sirdeshmukh as its chief executive. It was to rival against the likes of Spinny, Droom, Cars24 and Olx.
However, last month, Sirdeshmukh quit the company. The same month, the company closed operations in five cities, BusinessLine reported citing sources.
Ola Cars had plans to expand into 100 cities with 300 centers. It also had plans of hiring over 10,000 people across areas like vehicle diagnostics, service, support and sale. Majority of the people on board Ola Cars are now likely to be absorbed in the Ola Electric business.
The shutting down of used car operation happens at a time when the used car market in India is booming and scaling new peaks.
To be sure, Ola has had a long history of closed businesses as Aggarwal rushed from one big idea to the other. In April, the company reportedly let go of 2,100 employees operating its dark stores for Ola Dash. It had started scaling down the dark stores and had put its expansion plans on hold, ET Prime recently reported.
Then there is the food business. In 2015, Ola started Ola Cafes but shut it down a year later. In 2017, it acquired Foodpanda, but shut down the business in 2019 and laid off the employees. It later focussed on the cloud kitchen business with Ola Foods but reportedly the brands never caught traction and the company is selling its kitchen equipment.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on June 24 extended the deadline for card data storage and tokenisation implementation by three more months to September 30, 2022.
The banking regulator said on a review of the issues involved and after detailed discussions with all stakeholders, it is observed that considerable progress has been made in terms of token creation. However, the transaction processing based on these tokens has also commenced, though it is yet to gain traction across all categories of merchants, the RBI said.
Further, an alternate system in respect of transactions where cardholders decide to enter the card details manually at the time of undertaking the transaction has not been implemented by the industry stakeholders, so far, it said.
This means that payment aggregators, payment gateways, and merchants can store the card credentials of customers in their databases only until September 30, a deadline that has already been extended a number of times before this, most recently by six months to June 30.
In the absence of an alternative mechanism, customers using their credit or debit cards from July 1 will have to enter the details afresh for each transaction, including the 16-digit card number, expiry date, and card verification value (CVV).
Payment companies and card networks Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay have been working to implement the alternative – Card on File Tokenisation (CoFT) – which replaces card details with a ‘token’ that will be unique for every debit or credit card and merchant platform where it is used.
Moneycontrol had reported on May 20 that merchants and the payments ecosystem are worried that the industry is not fully prepared for implementing tokenisation. The report further said that while the process of creating tokens has been put in place, there is no clarity on the execution of guest checkouts and how merchants can implement cashbacks and rewards in the absence of card data.
The RBI’s directive is issued under Section 10 (2) read with Section 18 of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007), it said.
Further, the RBI, in a separate circular, also encouraged all cardholders to tokenise their cards and laid out the process in a bid to create further awareness among customers -- a move that many in the industry thought was lacking.
To create a token under the CoFT framework, the cardholder has to undergo a one-time registration process for each card at every online/e-commerce merchant’s website/mobile application, by entering the card details and giving consent for creating a token. This consent is validated by way of authentication through an additional factor authentication (AFA).
Thereafter, a token is created which is specific to the card and online / e-commerce merchant, i.e., the token cannot be used for payment at any other merchant. For future transactions performed at the same merchant website/mobile application, the cardholder can identify the card with the last four digits during the checkout process.
Thus, the cardholder is not required to remember or enter the token for future transactions. A card can be tokenised at any number of online / e-commerce merchants. For every online/e-commerce merchant where the card is tokenised, a specific token will be created.
"Till date, about 19.5 crore tokens have been created. Opting for CoFT (i.e., creating tokens) is voluntary for the cardholders. Those who do not wish to create a token can continue to transact as before by entering card details manually at the time of undertaking the transaction," RBI further said.
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced an extension of the deadline for card data storage and tokenisation implementation by another three months to September 30, 2022.
The RBI had earlier set a deadline of June 30 for tokenisation of debit and credit cards. As part of this initiative, merchants and payment aggregators are required to delete all card details and replace them with tokens.
The industry stakeholders have highlighted some issues related to implementation of the framework in respect of guest checkout transactions. Also, number of transactions processed using tokens is yet to gain traction across all categories of merchants, the RBI said in a statement.
"These issues are being dealt with in consultation with the stakeholders, and to avoid disruption and inconvenience to cardholders, the Reserve Bank has today announced extension of the said timeline of June 30, 2022, by three more months, i.e., to September 30, 2022," the central bank said.
According to the RBI, this extended time period may be utilised by the industry for, (a) facilitating all stakeholders to be ready for handling tokenised transactions; (b) processing transactions based on tokens; (c) implementing an alternate mechanism(s) to handle all post-transaction activities (including chargeback handling and settlement) related to guest checkout transactions, that currently involve /require storage of CoF data by entities other than card issuers and card networks; and (d) creating public awareness about the process of creating tokens and using them to undertake transactions.
Currently, many entities, including merchants, involved in an online card transaction chain store card data like card number, expiry date, etc [Card-on-File (CoF)] citing cardholder convenience and comfort for undertaking transactions in the future.
While this practice does render convenience, availability of card details with multiple entities increases the risk of card data being stolen/misused. There have been instances where such data stored by merchants, etc, have been compromised.
Given the fact that many jurisdictions do not mandate Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) for authenticating card transactions, stolen data in the hands of fraudsters may result in unauthorised transactions and resultant monetary loss to cardholders. Within India as well, social engineering techniques can be employed to perpetrate frauds using such data, the RBI noted in the statement.
Given the foregoing, the Reserve Bank mandated that after December 31, 2021, entities other than card networks and card issuers cannot store card data. This timeline was subsequently extended to June 30, 2022.
A framework for CoF Tokenisation (CoFT) services was also issued. Under this framework, cardholders can create "tokens" (a unique alternate code) in lieu of card details; these tokens can then be stored by the merchants for processing transactions in future. Thus, CoFT obviates the need to store card details with merchants and provides the same level of convenience to cardholders.
To create a token under the CoFT framework, the cardholder has to undergo a one-time registration process for each card at every online / e-commerce merchant's website / mobile application, by entering the card details and giving consent for creating a token.
This consent is validated by way of authentication through an AFA. Thereafter, a token is created which is specific to the card and online / e-commerce merchant, i.e., the token cannot be used for payment at any other merchant.
For future transactions performed at the same merchant website / mobile application, the cardholder can identify the card with the last four digits during the checkout process. Thus, the cardholder is not required to remember or enter the token for future transactions. A card can be tokenised at any number of online / e-commerce merchants. For every online / e-commerce merchant where the card is tokenised, a specific token will be created.
As per the RBI, till date, about 19.5 crore tokens have been created. Opting for CoFT (i.e., creating tokens) is voluntary for the cardholders. Those who do not wish to create a token can continue to transact as before by entering card details manually at the time of undertaking the transaction (commonly referred to as "guest checkout transaction").
"The Reserve Bank encourages cardholders to tokenise their cards for their own safety. Cardholders' payment experience will be enhanced through an added layer of security by way of tokenisation," the central bank said in the statement.
Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways has approved Bharat NCAP, which will test the crashworthiness of automobiles sold in India by giving them star ratings based on their performance in crash tests.
Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways has approved Bharat NCAP
Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has announced that he has approved the draft GSR (General Statutory Rules) notification for Bharat NCAP or New Car Assessment Programme. Like other safety watchdogs across the world, the Bharat NCAP will test the crashworthiness of automobiles sold in India by giving them star ratings based on their performance in crash tests. Gadkari has said that "the testing protocol of Bharat NCAP shall be aligned with global crash test protocols factoring in the existing Indian regulations, allowing OEMs to get their vehicles tested at India's own in-house testing facilities."
I have now approved the Draft GSR Notification to introduce Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded Star Ratings based upon their performance in Crash Tests. @PMOIndia
Nitin Gadkari made the announcement via his Twitter handle, where he said, "I have now approved the Draft GSR Notification to introduce Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded Star Ratings based upon their performance in Crash Tests." He further added, "Star Rating of Indian Cars based on Crash Tests is extremely crucial not only to ensure structural and passenger safety in cars but to also increase the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles."
Union Minister Gadkari says automobiles in India shall be accorded Star Ratings based upon their performance in Crash Tests
The Union Minister believes that the new Bharat NCAP will serve as a consumer-centric platform which will allow car buyers in India to opt for safer cars based on their star rating. He says that this will also promote healthy competition among OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) in India to build safer vehicles. Nitin Gadkari also said, "Bharat NCAP will prove to be a critical instrument in making our automobile industry Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the Number 1 automobile hub in the world."
Bharat NCAP will prove to be a critical instrument in making our automobile industry Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the Number 1 automobile hub in the world.
Up until now, the Global NCAP has been testing Made-In-India cars under its "Safer Cars for India" initiative, which has been assessing vehicles for their crashworthiness. While there have been several low-safety rated cars like the Maruti S-Presso, Swift, or Hyundai Grand i10 Nios, which have been rated between 0 to 2 stars, we have also seen 5-star rated cars in India like the Mahindra XUV700, XUV300, Tata Nexon, Punch, and Altroz.
So far, Made-in-India Models like the Tata Punch, Mahindra XUV700 have been awarded 5-star safety rating by the Global NCAP.
0 Comments
As of now, the union minister has not revealed a timeline as to by when will Bharat NCAP hit the floor, or where will the vehicles crash tested. Nonetheless, this is certainly a big and much-needed safety initiative by the Government of India.
() chairman Nitin Paranjpe said India is going through the most difficult economic situation and inflationary pressures are beginning to weigh on demand.
This has prompted some buyers of fast-moving consumer goods to temporarily cut back on purchases through a period of price-stickiness, which was described 'rare' by the company.
"India is going through probably the most difficult economic situation. Inflation is high. We are probably getting to a situation where we have now seen 14 consecutive months of double-digit wholesale price inflation," Paranjpe told shareholders virtually during his annual address on Thursday. "I don't know when we have last seen something like that. FMCG markets, which have generally been strong for a long period of time, have started seeing the effects of this."
Test of FMCG Mkt's Resilience
Last month, wholesale prices rose to a record when referenced to the new reporting benchmark, with the gauge climbing to just shy of 16%.
Inflation is testing the resilience of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, Paranjpe told delegates at the annual general meeting of the country's biggest consumer company.
"And, more recently, we have seen market rates moderate and volume growth rates have actually become negative in the short term," he said.
Consumer goods volumes fell about 1% during FY22, according to global consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel (formerly IMRB). HUL's performance is considered a proxy for the broader consumer sentiment in India.
HUL expanded value sales by 11% last fiscal, largely driven by price increases as it tried to offset energy, packaging and transport costs that rose about 50% from the past year.
"The immediate future is challenging, and it will require some astute handling and a balancing act to be able to make sure that growth does not stall and we are able to contain inflation," added Paranjpe, chief people and transformation officer at Unilever in his first AGM as HUL's chairman.
The company said it will try to mitigate some of the impacts of inflation by driving savings instead of passing price increases to consumers. The company saved nearly 7% of its annual turnover after it cut costs, tightened supply chain operations, tweaked manufacturing lines, and shed its dependence on imported raw materials.
In the medium to longer term, HUL said it remained confident of FMCG demand and its growth rates due to low per capita consumption, a large and young population, a growing middle class, rising affluence and the adoption of technology.
HUL is investing in technology and distribution, resulting in a 15% expansion in reach. About a fifth of the demand serviced by the company is now captured digitally.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks in global markets rose on Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields fell to two-week lows, while was at 16-month lows as investors worried about a possible global economic slowdown.
The Nasdaq led the way higher on Wall Street, rising more than 1.6%. Technology shares including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) and defensive shares gave the its biggest boost as investors continued to worry about a potential recession.
Investors have been weighing the risk of hefty interest rate rises tipping economies into recession.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress for a second day, a day after saying the Fed is committed to cutting inflation at all costs, and acknowledged a recession was "certainly a possibility."
"What we're seeing here is a (stock) market trying to absorb the Fed's tightening and basically trying to put in a low in a bear market," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"We have yields that are coming down, and so that's helping stocks," he said. "For now, the market has probably discounted somewhat of a mild recession."
Gauges of factory activity released on Thursday in Japan, Britain, the euro zone and United States all softened in June, with U.S. producers reporting the first outright drop in new orders in two years.
Manufacturing growth is slowing worldwide partly because China's COVID-19 curbs and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have disrupted supply chains and added to inflation problems.
The rose 194.23 points, or 0.64%, to 30,677.36, the S&P 500 gained 35.84 points, or 0.95%, to 3,795.73 and the added 179.11 points, or 1.62%, to 11,232.19.
The pan-European index lost 0.82% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.43%.
In the U.S. bond market, yields fell, partly on a growing belief that yields may have topped for the near term even if inflation stays high.
Yields have dropped from their highest level in more than a decade, reached before last week’s Fed meeting, when the U.S. central bank hiked rates by 75 basis points, the biggest increase since 1994.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year yields fell to 3.005%, before rebounding to 3.070%. They have dropped from 3.498% on June 14, the highest since April 2011.
Copper prices slumped as rising interest rates and weak economic data fed worries about demand.
Copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) hit its lowest level since February 2021.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro slid across the board following the weaker-than-expected German and French PMI data.
Against the dollar, the euro declined 0.5% to $1.0509. It earlier declined below a key $1.05 level for the third time this week. The euro also declined 1.4% versus the Japanese currency to 141.85 yen.
Oil prices ended lower as investors weighed the risk of a recession. futures fell $1.69 to settle at $110.05 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped $1.92 to settle at $104.27.
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks could not hold onto modest gains, closing lower on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell concluded his first day of testimony on Capitol Hill as part of his semiannual report on the economy.
At 4:12 PM ET, the was down 47 points or 0.2%, while the was down 0.1% and the was down 0.1%.
Powell visited the Senate Banking Committee this morning and will visit the House tomorrow. He told lawmakers the Fed is "strongly committed" to taming inflation and assured them that the economy is strong enough to withstand interest rate increases used as a tool to achieve that goal.
Powell also said the pace of future rate increases would depend on what the data is telling the central bank about inflation, whether it persists or is cooling off. He acknowledged that while a recession isn't the goal, it could be an outcome. It was just a week ago that the by three-quarters of a percentage point, the biggest move in decades, and Powell said another 50- to 75-basis-point increase could be in the making at the July meeting.
Banks are already raising their expectations for a recession. Yesterday Goldman set the odds at 30% in the next year, while Citigroup is now saying there’s a 50% chance of a global recession as consumers pull back on spending.
President Joe Biden has been trying to do his part to ease inflation, asking Congress to suspend the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel for three months.
Energy stocks were crushed by falling oil prices. fell nearly 4%, to $105 a barrel, and crude fell 3.4% to $110.76. were flat at $1,840 an ounce.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:) stock fell more than 6%, while Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:) shares fell 7%. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:) fell 3.6%.
LIC Share Price Today: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) shares opened upside for the third day in a row and surged on to hit an intraday high of Rs 678.80 apiece levels, logging around 2 per cent rise on Wednesday morning from its yesterday’s close of Rs 665.20 per share. This comes after the LIC scrip hit a fresh all-time low of Rs 650 per equity share on the NSE on Friday.
According to stock market experts, such a rise in LIC shares should be treated as a mere bounce back that might have emerged due to short covering. They said that LIC shares have been nosediving ahead of the end of the lock-in period for anchor investors. They went on to add that the fundamentals of the stock are still weak and one should avoid taking a fresh position in the Life Insurance stock till it gives a breakout.
JPMorgan has initiated coverage on the LIC stock with an overweight stance and target price of Rs 840. “Thesis centers on LIC’s 0.75 times price to embedded value – a measure of market value of an insurer’s current and future policies,” the global brokerage said.
“LIC’s new business value is only 1 per cent of its policies in force. Therefore, with 99 per cent of value from old policies, we see 0.75x P/EV as unduly harsh, even assuming no growth. In reality, LIC has picked up growth recently,” JPMorgan said.
It has forecasted a growth of 6 per cent in FY22-24 for the public sector insurer.
“LIC logged a 44 per cent market share in FY22 but has lost market share to peers over the last five years, JPMorgan said in its report. LIC’s retail premium is growing faster than the industry and is above the 2019 level. LIC is focused on addressing portfolio white spaces. It is making a distribution push as well in agency and other channels, opening upside risk,” mentioned the report. LIC worked primarily in national interest earlier. Its surplus was entirely distributed to policyholders and the government. Regulatory change now ensures LIC retains more profit,” said JPMorgan.
In early June, brokerage Emkay Global Financial Services initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘hold’ rating with a target price of Rs 875-up around 8 per cent from those levels.
“Without this bifurcation exercise, LIC’s H1FY22 EV would have been Rs 1.25 trillion, instead of Rs 5.4 lakh crore. Further, a very significant portion of this EV is sitting in the form of mark-to-market (MTM) gains in equity investments backing the non-par liabilities, taking EV sensitivity to equity market fluctuations to a substantially higher level,” Emkay added.
Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities, said: “The sharp correction in LIC, owing to the weak market sentiments and selling post the end of the anchor investor lock-in period, has made valuations attractive. Changes in the product mix with a focus on increasing the share of non-par products, and improving margins and overall profitability should drive valuations for LIC. Investors can hold on to the stock from a medium-long term perspective.”
The views and investment tips by experts in this News18.com report are their own and not those of the website or its management. Users are advised to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a notification disallowing non-bank prepaid wallets and prepaid cards from loading credit lines — preset borrowing limits — into these platforms.
This comes in the backdrop of a boom in credit instruments such as fintech-driven credit cards and buy-now-pay-later wallets.
What has RBI said in its notification?
The banking regulator has clarified that its master direction on prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) does not permit loading of PPIs from credit lines — a practice being undertaken by several fintech credit card companies. These companies typically tie up with banks or NBFCs and offer credit lines into their prepaid wallets.
Best of Express Premium
“Such practice, if followed, should be stopped immediately. Any non-compliance in this regard may attract penal action under provisions contained in the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007,” the RBI noted.
What are PPIs?
The RBI defines prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) as payment instruments that facilitate the buying of goods and services, including the transfer of funds, financial services, and remittances, against the value stored within or on the instrument. PPIs are in the form of payment wallets, smart cards, mobile wallets, magnetic chips, vouchers, etc. As per the regulations, banks and NBFCs can issue PPIs.
What is a credit line?
A credit line is a preset borrowing limit that allows an individual or a business access to credit at any time, as per need. It can be tapped into by the customer till the limit offered is not exceeded. It is like a flexible loan as against a lump-sum loan where a fixed amount is borrowed.
Why has the RBI issued this notification?
With credit products infiltrating the market, there is a renewed push by the regulator to clampdown in the interest of consumer safety. While some fintechs tie up with banks like SBM Bank, RBL Bank, Federal Bank, etc. to offer these products, some tie up with NBFCs. In some cases, the credit lines are also extended by the fintech’s NBFC partners. Recently, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said that the regulator would soon issue norms to regulator the digital payments space.
Which are the fintechs offering credit products in India?
Today, most fintechs offer a credit product alongside their main offerings. Companies like Paytm, Amazon Pay, LazyPay, Simpl, etc offer postpaid wallets with small credit lines. Others such as Slice, Uni, Fi, OneCard, etc. offer credit cards in partnership with banks and NBFCs.
: Indian equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 surged on Tuesday amid gains across sectors, though concerns persisted about aggressive hikes in COVID-era rates and their impact on economic growth. Financial, IT and oil & gas shares were the biggest contributors to the gain in headline indices. Broader markets also strengthened, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rising around 3.5 percent each. Investors globally awaited a key testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell due this week.
Stock Market Highlights: Sensex Bounces Back Nearly 1200 Pts In 2 Days And Nifty Reclaims 15600 Led By Financial, It And Oil & Gas Shares - CNBCTV18 Read More
After a long wait, IKEA has finally opened its store in Bengaluru, which is so far the retailer's biggest store in India at 4,60,000 sq ft. Not just that, the retailer plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore in Karnataka and employ around 10,000 people by 2030, top executives of the company said in a press briefing.
The store located in Nagasandra, right next to the metro station in north of Bengaluru, will be formally opening on June 22. Further, IKEA plans to launch its first city-centre store in Bengaluru next year.
Ahead of the launch, top executives of the group arrived in Bengaluru. From the former IKEA India CEO Peter Betzel to the current CEO Suzanne Pulverer andAnje Heim as the Market Manager for the Karnataka market, Parineeta Cecil Lakra, Country People & Culture Manager at IKEA India, among others were present during the launch event.
This is IKEA’s fourth store in India after launching stores in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The Swedish retailer also plans to launch a store in Delhi-NCR but has not disclosed a timeline.
Different from Hyderabad and Mumbai, IKEA store in Bengaluru is more spacious with balcony designs apart from its usual home decor and furnishing items. Moreover, it also boasts of buildingthe largest children’s play ‘area ‘Småland’ in this new store.
Spread over 12.2 acres, the store also has a 1,000 seater restaurant with a mix of Swedish and Indian food.
So far, the retailer was catering to the Bengaluru city through its online commerce and has over 8 lakh customers already.
Twenty seven percent of the store’s 7,000 type of products are produced in India and the store currently employs around 1,000 people in the store and will continue hiring more local talent in the coming months.
"Seventy percent of the workforce in the store are local and we aim to recruit many more. We are also training and developing our co-workers to make them ready to welcome our customers. Sixty percent of our employees and full-time and the rest are part-timers," said Vinaya Rai, People and culture manager of IKEA Nagasandra.
Currently, 48 percent of its workforce are women in the store. Additionally, IKEA plans to employ 10,000 in the state by 2030.
“There are three things that drive us. We will be focusing on sustainability, accessibility and affordability,” said CEO Pulverer.
As the store is located next to the metro station, Pulverer pointed out that this was to make the store more accessible as traffic in Bengaluru can be a pain point for many. The store faced this issue earlier in Hyderabad when its first store had opened and reaching the store became extremely difficult.
"While we are an omnichannel retailer, the IKEA stores are iconic and will remain important places where our customers meet our home furnishing offerings, get inspired, and find relevant products best suited for their home. We are happy to bring our passion and knowledge for home furnishing to the people of Karnataka to contribute to better lives at home," she added.
Card tokenisation will come into effect from July 1, 2022
New Delhi:
There is going to be good news soon for all credit and debit card holders, as from July 1, 2022 onwards, online merchants will not be able to store customers' card data.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last year had issued debit and credit card tokenisation rules, keeping in mind customer safety. Under the rules, merchants were barred from storing customer card data in their servers.
These card tokenisation rules will now come into effect from July 1, 2022.
RBI had made adoption of card-on-file tokens for domestic online purchases mandatory. The deadline for adoption of card tokens across the country was extended by six months from January 1, 2022 to July 1, 2022.
It will be stored as an encrypted “token” to help customers make secure transactions. These tokens will allow payment to be made without disclosing customer details. RBI guidelines make it mandatory to replace the original card data with an encrypted digital token.
Therefore from July 1, 2022, merchants will have to delete customers' debit and credit cards' data from their records.
The card tokenisation system is not mandatory. Therefore if a customer has not given consent for tokenisation of his or her card, then the customer will have to enter all card details like name, card number and card validity instead of entering the card verification value or CVV, every time while making an online payment.
At the same time, if a customer is agreeable towards card tokenisation, then he or she will only have to enter the CVV or one time password (OTP) details while doing the transaction.
The tokenisation system is totally free of charge and it provides smoother payment experience while security one's card's data.
Also tokenisation is only applicable to domestic online transactions.
According to RBI, registration for a tokenisation request is done only with explicit customer consent through Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA), and not by way of a forced or default or automatic selection of check box, radio button, etc.
