Policy Advocacy
NASSCOM’s feedback to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on ‘Draft Guidelines for ‘on tap’ Licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector’
As the representative of the information technology industry, we take this opportunity to present our views and suggestions on the Draft Guidelines for ‘on tap’ Licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector which provides a window of opportunity to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), Payments Banks (PBs), micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and fintechs (in lending) to apply for Small Finance Banks (SFBs). These entities might even be able to transition to a universal bank after satisfactory track record of performance as an SFB for a minimum period of five years. Our submission to the RBI lists out different concern areas in the draft guidelines and also provides suggestions to address them. While a copy of the submission has been attached with this blog, here are the major su...
GST Update | E-Invoice Concept Note, FAQs released on GST portal
Proposed E-invoicing System: As you may be aware the GST Council approved the standard of e-invoice in its 37th meeting held on 20th Sept 2019. In this regard, GSTN has recently issued a concept note on proposed E-invoicing system along with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on E-Invoicing. This note explains the concept of e-invoice, how it operates and basics of standards. It also contains FAQs which answer the questions raised by people who responded to the draft e-invoice standard used for public consultation in past few months. The basic aim behind adoption of e-invoice system by tax departments is ability to pre-populate the return and to reduce the reconciliation problems. Other benefits include better tax payer services, reduction in tax evasion and obtaining efficiency in tax admi...
NASSCOM Invite:Policy Roundtable on Regulation of Digital Payments-New Delhi
Dear Members, NASSCOM is organizing a policy roundtable on regulation of digital payments on October 16, 2019, Wednesday in New Delhi. Time: 11 am to 1 pm (followed by lunch) Venue: “Marigold” Habitat World, at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road New Delhi-110003 (Entry from gate number 1 on Lodhi road) RBI has recently released the discussion paper on guidelines for payment gateways and payment aggregators. Regulatory and policy framework around e-KYC and MDR are evolving. The objective of the roundtable is to develop a better appreciation of the evolving regulatory outlook and evaluate various means to address them. The discussions should enable the industry to submit well-informed feedback to the RBI and the Government on some of these issues. We are keen to foster face-to-face discussions...
Member Consultation: OECD’s Secretariat Proposal for a Unified Approach
Further to the last round of deliberations on addressing tax challenges of digitalization of economy by OECD under its Inclusive Framework Policy and subsequent endorsement by G20 Group in June 2019, OECD has now released another Public Consultation Document (attached) under a “Unified Approach” that seeks to implement a consensus solution by end of 2020. OECD recognizes the importance of designing a solution that attracts support from members of Inclusive Framework and aims to identify key features of a solution, which would include the following: Scope: The approach aims to cover highly digital business models and goes wider – broadly focusing on consumer-facing businesses with further work to be carried out on scope and carve-outs. New Nexus: For such businesses, the approach creates ne...
NASSCOM response to TRAI Consultation Paper on Review of Scope of Infrastructure Providers Category – I (IP-I) Registration
NASSCOM recently made its submission on the TRAI Consultation Paper (CP) on review of scope of IP-1 registration. In our submission, we have recommended TRAI to broaden the scope of the registration to allow IP registration to include provisioning of common shareable active infrastructure. We further suggested that scope of IP 1 registration should be broadened to include include the provision of end to end bandwidth for the purposes of intra-organisation connectivity. Given below is the brief summary of our responses to the questions raised in the CP. Should the scope of Infrastructure Providers Category – I (IP-I) registration be enhanced to include provisioning of common shareable active infrastructure also? We suggested that the scope of IP-I registration should be enhanced to include...
Policy roundtable on leveraging regulatory and innovation sandboxes, India Fintech Day , August 29, 2019, Mumbai
NASSCOM organized a roundtable on leveraging regulatory and innovation sandboxes at the India Fintech Day, 2019 with an aim to bring representatives from the regulators and industry together to discuss the issues and challenges around leveraging regulatory and innovation sandboxes. The specific takeaways pertaining to sandboxes include, the need for better clarity of sandbox objective, regulatory certainty around the cost undertaken by Fintech companies or start-ups for innovation, clear definition of the goals and metrics for successful testing, address the privacy and security challenges, and the need for speedy approvals and elimination of consent layers so that the innovation can make it to the market quickly after successful testing. Ashish Aggarwal, Senior Director and Head-Public P...
Attend International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners||23rd to 25th Oct||Albania
The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (ICDPPC) is a worldwide annual forum of 120+ member countries & public authorities, where privacy officers, Information Commissioners, and data protection authorities from around the world exchange views and experiences. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been accorded ‘ICDPPC Observer Member Status’ during the 40th conference ICDPPC- 2018 at Brussels, Belgium. MeitY is participating in the capacity of observer again this year. The ICDPPC 2019 is scheduled from 21st to 25th October 2019 in Tirana, Albania. The theme for this year’s conference is, ‘Convergence and connectivity raising global data protection standards in the digital age’. The programme of ICDPPC consists of a ...
NASSCOM Feedback on the Draft PF Amendment Bill 2019
NASSCOM recently made its submission on the Draft Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Bill 2019 (hereinafter referred to as “Bill”). The Bill was published by Ministry of Labour and Employment on August 23rd for public Comments. Following are summary of recommendation made by us to the Government. Definition of ‘Wages’: The draft bill contains various allowances that are excluded from the definition of ‘Wages’. In addition we have suggested that any other allowance that is not universally paid to all employees should also not form part of Wages. Percentage of contribution: As per the current provision, the Central Government may notify different percentage of total remuneration which is to be considered Wages. We have suggested that notifying dif...
Request for Inputs: Discussion Paper on Guidelines for Payment Gateways & Payment Aggregators
Dear Members, On 17 September, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a discussion paper on Guidelines for Payment Gateways and Payment Aggregators which seeks to develop a framework to regulate intermediaries such as the payment gateways and payment aggregators, facilitating online payments. These intermediaries shall be authorised under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSSA), suggests the paper. 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. Acco...
Request for Inputs: Draft Guidelines for ‘on-tap’ licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector
Dear Members, On 13 September, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued draft guidelines for ‘on tap’ licensing of small finance banks in the private sector. The move comes after a review of the performance of the existing small finance banks, which were granted in-principle approval in 2015. RBI had issued the Guidelines for Licensing of “Small Finance Banks” in the Private Sector on November 27, 2014. It was notified in these guidelines that after gaining experience in dealing with these banks, the Reserve Bank would consider ‘on tap’ licensing of these banks. With an aim to encourage competition, RBI announced in its Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2019-20 dated June 06, 2019 that it would put out draft guidelines for ‘on tap’ licensing of such banks. The Central Bank has pla...
