Receiving money through NEFT can put you in trouble

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Despite directions from RBI, banks refuse to share details of the entity sending money through NEFT

The National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), used by almost everyone to transfer money quickly, can also put the receiver in a difficult position. The main reason is, there are no details available about the remitter or sender and if the amount is large, then the recipient may end up facing Income Tax (I-T) Department queries. Remember what happened with Aishwarya Rai, when in 2006 she received a parcel containing 23,000 euros (around Rs14 lakh at that time) sent by an unknown person from the Netherlands?

Well, with banks hesitating in sharing details of the person or entity who is transferring money via NEFT, it may be you next time. Although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to furnish appropriate details in passbook or account statement for credits sent and received by the customer through NEFT, all the recipient gets is just a name and amount. “A very generic mention as ‘NEFT’ or ‘NECS’ does not help customers in identifying the source of credits, particularly where multiple credits are afforded to their accounts through these products. The Core Banking Solutions (CBS) of banks should be enabled to capture complete information from the relevant fields in the messages, data files which can be displayed to customers when they access their accounts online or provided to them additionally when they approach the branch counters, help desks, call centres,” the RBI had said.

However, all the recipient gets to know is just a name. There are no details like sender’s PAN number, address and the cause/remark for the money transfer.

Often money launderers are found using bank accounts of low-income individuals for transferring money. In addition, due to the forceful implementation of the Jan Dhan Yojana, we have about 10 crore new bank accounts, out of which 73% do not have a single penny. But consider that tomorrow, if somebody uses these accounts to launder money, then without detailed information about the remitter, how is a poor Kalawati supposed to answer queries from the authorities, including but not limited to I-T department. In the absence of detailed information about the remitter, how will she explain the unaccounted money remitted into her account through NEFT?

Receiving funds from unknown remitters becomes an even bigger issue for non-governmental organisations (NGO), who need to give a receipt as well as I-T exemption certificate. If there is just a name of the remitter, how and where is an NGO, like Moneylife Foundation, supposed to send the receipt?

Another issue with NEFT fund transfer is the delay. According to RBI policy, banks need to afford credits to beneficiary accounts or return transactions (uncredited for whatever reason) to the originating / sponsor bank within the prescribed timeline. It also directed banks to move towards hourly settlement starting from 9am to 7pm on all week days and between 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. Yet, it appears that banks are still using the last part of the work-day or first hour of the next day for NEFT transactions.

Coming back to the Aishwarya Rai episode, the actor was grilled by the Customs official for two-and-a-half hours at the international airport as soon as she landed in Mumbai from Jodhpur. The parcel was allegedly sent by one Avineshwar from the Netherlands marked to the actress. It arrived at the Foreign Post Office in Mumbai during September 2006. Besides the currency, it also contained a top-brand shirt, a pair of binoculars, a DVD player and other electronic items. Following a notice, Aishwarya’s father Krishnaraj Rai, on 15th November met Custom officials to clarify her position. However, the officials insisted to know details from Aishwarya, due to which the actor had to come to Mumbai to clarify her position. She was shooting for the movie ‘Jodha Akbar’ in Jodhpur at that time. After the enquiry, she was give a temporary clean chit by the Customs.

Therefore, it is high time the central bank issues another order mandating banks to share all details of the remitter who is sending money through NEFT or any other payment method to the recipient and actually penalises banks if there are persistent complaints about flouting the RBI’s order.

Courtesy : MoneyLife Foundation

http://www.moneylife.in/article/receiving-money-through-neft-can-put-you-in-trouble/40102.html

June 30 new deadline for hsg society polls

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Cooperative housing societies can now elect managing committees by June 30 instead of the earlier deadline of December 31. The state legislature recently cleared the deadline extension.

The state had told societies to complete elections by December 31. Experts said the cut-off date was “unrealistic“ since many societies had not held elections over several years. “The extension will help us comply with due procedure with an extended period for hearing of objections over nominations,“ said a society functionary.

After the deadline was initially set at December 31, many societies had been asking members to attend urgent meetings to decide on the election agenda. Some had issued an ultimatum to members and told them to pay pending dues within a short span of time to become eligible voters. Moreover, several rounds of meetings had to be held by societies to make members aware of the new regulations before going in for elections.“Several members live abroad or out of the city and have rented their flats. We need to do the groundwork to ensure free and fair polls,“ said a member from a housing society in Chembur.

“Our society recently issued a notice asking us to pay maintenance and repair dues within four days. How can we shell out the amount in such a short span of time? They should give us at least a fortnight,“ said a resident of Shivaji Park, Dadar.

Experts said they were getting many calls from anxious residents to convene meetings to spread awareness on new rules and help housing societies comply with the new regulatory administration.

“We had started conducting meetings to create awareness among members, auditors and employees and labourers working in housing societies in order to ensure maximum participation of societies and their members in the elections,“ said Surendra More, vice-chairman of Bombay Suburban District Housing Federation.Ramesh Prabhu, president of the Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association, said his organization was guiding people on how to file all the details online and upload audit statements. Elections of all housing societies are being conducted through secret ballot, provided there is no unanimity over managing committee candidates.

December 29 2014 : The Times of India (Mumbai)
by Chittaranjan Tembhekar, Mumbai

Times of India issue dated 29 December 2014 - June 30 new deadline for hsg society polls

 

By overstaying, a licensee cannot claim tenancy rights

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law

With the passage of the time the system of giving properties on leave and license basis in Maharashtra is taking roots, but still a good number of the property owners are apprehensive; because they are not sure that they would get back the possession of the properties on the expiry of the term.  However, in view of the latest judicial pronouncements, such fear seems unfounded, provided legal requirements are complied with.

Click Here for the recent judgements and precautions to be taken

By Accommodation Times News Services

New Election procedure for Co-operative Housing Societies

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The Government of Maharashtra has amended the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 in 2013 and introduced new election procedure for cooperative housing societies.

We have explained the procedure as per the Act regarding elections to be conducted by the cooperative housing societies.  We trust that you will find the same useful.

Click Here for the full procedure By Accommodation Times News Services By Sunil Deshmukh, District Deputy Registrar (Retd.), For K.K. Ramani & Associates

Online Society Registration

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CA Shri. Ramesh Prabhu, Chairman, MSWA has launched Mswa News Channel on YouTube. We have uploaded several videos related to various issues of co-operative housing society.

Here is the video on the present burning topic i.e.  “ON LINE SOCIETY REGISTRATION”. You are requested to view this video for getting more information & knowledge.

How prepaid mobile subscribers are being looted

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Prepaid, mobile subscribers, TRAI, airtel, vodafone, idea

Arbitrary hikes in data and call charges for prepaid subscribers are frequent and not limited to just one mobile operator. In addition, Vodafone and Idea have reduced 3G prepaid data pack validity to a non-standard 28-days, thus forcing the user to recharge 13 times in a year instead of 12

Subscribers of Bharti Airtel have right to be furious over the mobile operator’s decision to charge extra for subscribers using voice over internet protocol (VoIP) apps, like Skype, Viber, Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts. However, Airtel is not the only one who is charging more to its own subscribers. Several mobile operators like Vodafone and Idea Cellular are discriminating between their own post-paid and prepaid subscribers by enforcing non-standard validity period for internet packs. This follows an arbitrary hike in mobile data tariffs for 3G packs irrespective of whether the subscriber really gets the specified, minimum speed for internet or no.

Click Here for the full story by Yogesh Sapkale

How Listed Companies Launder Money

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has set anti-money laundering guidelines to put in place stronger checks against possible laundering of funds through capital markets. Despite the regulations in place, SEBI recently sought help from various investigative agencies under the finance ministry on alleged money laundering in listed companies. According to reports, the markets regulator had written to the finance ministry, highlighting the method used by certain low-value companies to evade taxes.

The quantum of the alleged tax evasion is said to be pegged at Rs 20,000 crore

Such manipulative trades involves an entity seeking long-term capital gains exemption by approaching an operator, who finds out an illiquid stock on the exchange platform and gets an allotment of shares done to the entity. Over a one year at least period the operator rigs the stock price up to a pre-determined level. This is when the foreign entity gets in, and gullible investors get in taking the stock higher as the earlier entity gets out. This enables conversion of unaccounted money into tax-free long term capital gains. Watch the video:

Click Here for the full article