The GST council’s recommendation to amend the law to overrule retrospective tax demands could potentially resolve ₹1 lakh crore in pending indirect tax cases against India’s real money gaming (RMG) sector, including firms like Gameskraft, Dream 11, Games 24x7, and Head Digital Works.
While this could reduce risks for these firms, senior lawyers and executives advise caution. The recommendation, covering all industries, needs debate in the interim budget session and further GST council approval for the RMG sector. Pending tax cases against RMG firms continue, with the next Supreme Court hearing scheduled for July 15.
Sebi conducted search and seizure operations on Sandeep Tandon-owned Quant Mutual Fund, suspecting front-running. The operations took place at two locations: Quant’s Mumbai HQ and a suspected connection in Hyderabad.
Alleged profits from the operations are close to Rs 20 crore. Quant Mutual Fund confirmed inquiries from Sebi in an email to investors, assuring full cooperation with the regulator. Founded by Sandeep Tandon, Quant Mutual Fund has grown rapidly, managing over Rs 90,000 crore in assets.
Sebi has been intensifying efforts to crack down on front-running, a practice where fund managers use insider knowledge to profit from upcoming large trades.
RBI has reduced its overseas gold reserves to a six-year low, with 47% of its total gold holdings overseas as of March 2024. This shift began in March 2022, coinciding with the Russia-Ukraine war and global caution following the US freezing Russian assets.
Recently, the RBI brought back 100 tonnes of gold from the UK. Governor Shaktikanta Das stated this move was due to adequate domestic storage capacity. By March 2024, the RBI’s total gold holdings were 822.1 tonnes, with 53% stored domestically.
This trend aligns with global central banks increasing domestic gold reserves, which rose from 50% in 2020 to an estimated 68% by December 2023 and likely 74% in the next five years.
Kotak Mahindra Bank is addressing business shortfalls caused by the Reserve Bank of India’s ban on parts of its credit card and digital operations. To mitigate the impact, the bank is encouraging current credit card customers to increase their spending and offering personal and business loans.
Virat Diwanji, head of consumer banking, highlighted efforts to boost credit card usage among existing customers and leverage their unutilized credit limits. Newly appointed CEO Ashok Vaswani stated the bank is committed to resuming normal operations and has developed mitigation plans.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, the fourth-largest credit card issuer in India with over 6 million cards, faces profitability impacts as credit card growth slows due to the ban. The bank aims to address regulatory requirements promptly to lift the ban.
