Press Information Bureau

18.09.2019

Civil

Cabinet approves Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance

MANU/PIBU/1428/2019

In a major health and wellness initiative for the country, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement) Ordinance, 2019.

Electronic-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine, which is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes. These include all forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, Heat Not Burn Products, e-Hookah and the like devices. These novel products come with attractive appearances and multiple flavours and their use has increased exponentially and has acquired epidemic proportions in developed countries, especially among youth and children.

Upon promulgation of the Ordinance, any production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale (including online sale), distribution or advertisement (including online advertisement) of e-cigarettes shall be a cognizable offence punishable with an imprisonment of up to one year or fine up to Rs. 1 lakh or both for the first offence; and imprisonment of up to three years and fine up to Rs. 5 lakh for a subsequent offence. Storage of electronic-cigarettes shall also be punishable with an imprisonment up to 6 months or fine up to Rs. 50,000 or both.

The owners of existing stocks of e-cigarettes on the date of commencement of the Ordinance will have to suo-moto declare and deposit these stocks with the nearest police station. The Sub-Inspector of Police has been designated as the Authorized Officer to take action under the Ordinance. The Central or State Governments may also designate any other equivalent officer(s) as Authorized Officer for enforcement of the provisions of the Ordinance.

The decision to prohibit e-cigarettes will help protect population, especially the youth and children, from the risk of addiction through E-cigarettes. Enforcement of the Ordinance will complement government's efforts for tobacco control and will help in reduction of tobacco use and reduction in associated economic and disease burden.

Tags : Promulgation Ordinance E-Cigarettes Ban

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Ministry of Finance 

18.09.2019

Direct Taxation

Central Government hereby specifies Cash Replenishment Agencies and franchise agents of White Label Automated Teller Machine Operators

MANU/CBDT/0087/2019

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (v) of proviso to section 194N of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, hereby specifies Cash Replenishment Agencies (CRA's) and franchise agents of White Label Automated Teller Machine Operators (WLATMO's) maintaining a separate bank account from which withdrawal is made only for the purposes of replenishing cash in the Automated Teller Machines (ATM's) operated by such WLATMO's and the WLATMO have furnished a certificate every month to the bank certifying that the bank account of the CRA's and the franchise agents of the WLATMO's have been examined and the amounts being withdrawn from their bank accounts has been reconciled with the amount of cash deposited in the ATM's of the WLATMO's. The notification shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from the 1st day of September, 2019.

Tags : Cash Replenishment Agencies WLATMO

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Reserve Bank of India

17.09.2019

Banking

Discussion Paper on Guidelines for Payment Gateways and Payment Aggregators

MANU/RPRL/0169/2019

Reserve Bank has today placed on its website a discussion paper on 'Guidelines for Payment Gateways and Payment Aggregators' for public comments. In the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies released with the Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2018-19, the Reserve Bank had announced that a discussion paper will be placed in the public domain for consultation with the stakeholders on comprehensive guidelines covering payments related activities of payment gateway providers and payment aggregators. The Reserve Bank invites comments on the policy paper from all stakeholders and members of public by October 17, 2019.

Tags : Discussion Paper Guidelines Payment Gateways

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Press Information Bureau

16.09.2019

Insurance

Commerce Ministry through ECGC raises Insurance cover for Banks up to 90% for Working Capital Loans

MANU/PIBU/1423/2019

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal informed about the details of the Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS). The scheme was announced by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, as part of measures to boost exports, on 14th September 2019 in New Delhi.

Due to the global slowdown and rising NPAs, banks are in stress and therefore require additional support. Finance Ministry has taken steps towards merger of Banks and has infused additional capital to the banks. In order to facilitate banks further Ministry of Commerce & Industry has enhanced Insurance cover for Banks up to 90% for the working capital loans and moderation in premium incidence for the MSME sector. Enhanced cover will ensure that Foreign and Rupee export credit interest rates will be below 4% and 8% respectively for exporters.

The stimulus package will catalyze Banks to enhance volume of export credit lending particularly to the MSME Sector with optimal pricing due to capital and risk optimization. The existing covers issued by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) will continue for the existing customer banks and similar covers will also be made available to all other banks. All standard accounts covered under ECGC as on the date of transition, shall be eligible for cover under the ECIS. The scope of cover has been enlarged to cover not only the principal outstanding but also for the unpaid Interest (for a maximum of two quarters or the NPA date, whichever is earlier).

ECGC is a fully Government of India owned company established in the year 1957 to promote exports by providing credit insurance services. ECGC provides Export Credit Insurance to Banks (ECIB) to protect the Banks from losses on account of export credit at the Pre and Post-Shipment stage given to exporters due to the risks of insolvency and/or protracted default of the exporter borrower.

Tags : Export credit Insurance cover Enhancement

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Press Information Bureau

16.09.2019

Commercial

Commerce and Industry Minister Launches Steel Import Monitoring System

MANU/PIBU/1424/2019

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri launched Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) in New Delhi. The system has been developed in consultation with Ministry of Steel on the pattern of US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system.

The SIMS will provide advance information about steel imports to Government and stake holders including, steel industry (producers), steel consumers (importers) to have effective policy interventions.

In this system, the importers of specified steel products will register in advance on the web portal of SIMS providing necessary information. The registration will be online and automatic and no human intervention is required. The importer can apply for registration not earlier than 60th day and not later than 15th day before the expected date of arrival of import consignment. The automatic Registration Number thus granted shall remain valid for a period of 75 days. The information about the steel imports provided by the importers on the SIMS will be monitored by the Steel Ministry.

Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) has been notified with effect from 1st November, 2019 vide Notification No.17 dated 5th September, 2019.The system shall require importers to submit advance information in an online system for import of 284 steel tariff lines at 8-digit HS code in order to obtain an automatic Registration Number by paying prescribed registration fee. Importer shall have to enter the Registration Number and expiry date of Registration in the Bill of Entry to enable Customs for clearance of consignment. The SIMS will be effective from 01.11.2019, i.e., Bill of Entry on or after 01.11.2019. The facility of on line Registration will be available with effect from 16/09/2019.

Tags : Launch Steel Import Monitoring System

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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

16.09.2019

Media and Communication

Release of Consultation Paper on 'Duration of alert for the called party'

MANU/TRAI/0081/2019

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a Consultation Paper on 'Duration of alert for the called party'. Full text of the consultation paper is available on TRAI's website. In telecommunication networks, ring tone is used to alert the called party about the incoming call. Configuration of duration of ringing time on lower side might save network resources but it may cause concerns related to network performances and customer experience if duration is much lower than the typical time one takes to answer the call. It may cause poor Answer-to-Seizure Ratio (ASR) and impact the pattern of outgoing and incoming Minutes of Usage (MoU) on Point of Interconnection (PoI). Keeping in view the impact of ring duration on quality of service experience and network performances, it is important to discover the appropriate values.

The objective of this consultation Paper is to discover values for duration of ringing which should be configured by all the telecommunication service providers to forced release calls in case no answer condition persists beyond the given duration. It further seeks inputs on appropriate measures to be taken in this regard. The paper also explores the possibility of customisation of ringing duration by the customer.

Tags : Release Consultation Paper Ringing time Duration

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