CORPORATE UPDATES 10.04.2019

MCA

Stakeholders are requested to please note that Filing of affidavits (from each of the subscribers to the memorandum and from persons named as the first directors, if any, in the articles that he is not convicted of any offence in connection with the promotion, formation or management of any company, or that he has not been found guilty of any fraud or misfeasance or of any breach of duty to any company under this Act or any previous company law during the preceding five years and that all the documents filed with the Registrar for registration of the company contain information that is correct and complete and true to the best of his knowledge and belief) as per Section 7(1)(c) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with rule 15 of the Companies (Incorporation) Third Amendment Rules has been dispensed with vide the Companies (Amendment) Act,2017- from 27th July 2018. Only declaration by first subscriber(s) and director(s) in INC-9 is mandatory and affidavit is NOT required to be filed Stakeholders may kindly note the above provisions while filing SPICe forms for incorporation of Companies.

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ORDER HOLDING CS GUILTY OF MISCONDUCT SET ASIDE FOR NON OPPORTUNITY ON QUANTUM OF PUNISHMENT

The allegation against the appellant company secretary was that she had committed Professional Misconduct having issued three Secretarial Compliance Certificates all on a single day to a Limited company which was in gross violation of the law. The Disciplinary Committee of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), after considering the material on record and the nature of issues involved and in totality of the circumstances of this case and the in the light of the Respondent pleaded guilty, formed the opinion that the appellant was guilty of Professional Misconduct under item (7) of the Part-I of the Second Schedule to the Act which says that a company Secretary in practice shall be deemed to be guilty of professional misconduct if he/she does not exercise due diligence, or is grossly negligent in the conduct of his professional duties. Accordingly, the Disciplinary Committee passed the final order awarding the punishment of removal of her name from the Register of Members for a period of 60 day and fine of Rs. 35000 Before the Appellate Authority (AA), the appellant submitted that she had admitted her guilt after receipt of an advice from the Members of Disciplinary Committee to plead guilty so as to get rid of proceedings in this matter further under impression that she will be awarded only lighter monitory punishment. The Appellate Authority noted that the Order passed by the Disciplinary Committee itself stated that the punishment was also announced to the CS on the order being reserved for announcement, to save her from the efforts and cost of making yet another visit to Delhi. The AA also went through the provisions of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (the Act) and the the Company Secretaries (Procedure of Investigations of Professional and Other Misconduct of Cases) Rules, 2007 and found that the provisions of the Act as well as Rules do not empower the Disciplinary Committee to dispense with the mandatory requirements of providing an opportunity of being heard on account of quantum of punishment on the ground of saving effort and cost of the respondent in the Disciplinary proceedings. However, the Disciplinary Committee had not followed the due procedure as prescribed statutorily as no opportunity of being heard was provided to the appellant on the question of quantum of punishment irrespective of her admission of guilt conveyed by her letter. The AA quashed the impugned order and remanded the matter back to the Disciplinary Committee of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India with the directions to hear both the parties afresh on account of guilt as well as in respect of quantum of punishment in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Act, and Rules and pass a fresh order.

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CARMAKERS CAN NOW TAKE CCI TO NCLT OVER LANDMARK RS 2,544-CR ANTI-CONSUMER FINE

In a potentially far-reaching move, the Delhi High Court allowed car companies in India to move NCLT challenging Competition Commission of India's Rs 2,544 crore penalty on them. The penalty pertains to a high-profile case that had alleged 14 car companies of abusing their dominant position vis-a-vis component makers, which it said was helping these companies make exorbitant profits at the cost of car owners. The companies have been given six weeks' time to approach the NCLT over the matter. It was in August 2014 that the CCI had imposed the combined penalty on 14 carmakers for indulging in unfair practices in the spare parts market, in an almost unprecedented verdict in India's corporate history. Tata Motors had been slapped with the maximum fine of Rs 1,346 crore, followed by Maruti Suzuki at Rs 471 crore, Mahindra & Mahindra at Rs 292 crore, General Motors at Rs 85 crore and Honda Car India Rs 78 crore. CCI had held that these auto indulged in anti-competitive practices as they did not make genuine spare parts freely available in the open market.

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LIST OUT STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ESSAR STEEL RESOLUTION PLAN: NCLAT TELLS ARCELORMITTAL

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) directed ArcelorMittal to list out the steps for implementation of its Rs 42,000 crore resolution plan for Essar Steel. The same has to be filed in the form of an affidavit, the Appellate Tribunal stated. A two-member Bench of the NCLAT led by Chairperson Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya also said that it might direct ArcelorMittal to deposit the money promised in the resolution plan in a separate account, on the next date of hearing. The NCLAT was hearing a batch of appeals moved against the approval of ArcelorMittal’s resolution plan for Essar Steel. Reiterating that the Appellate Tribunal would not set aside the approval granted to ArcelorMittal, Justice Mukhopadhyay remarked that only changes with respect to the discriminatory distribution of money amongst creditors would be made. The NCLAT has thus directed the financial creditors, operational creditors, and other intervenors in the appeal to submit the details of their claim made to the Resolution Professional and the amount/percentage approved in the resolution plan. The Committee of Creditors for Essar Steel also informed the NCLAT that it has decided not to increase the share of money given to Standard Chartered as per the resolution plan. Standard Chartered Bank had challenged that March 8 order of the NCLT, Ahmedabad Bench approving ArcelorMittal’s resolution plan for Essar Steel, on the grounds that the approval process adopted by the CoC was illegal and that the plan was discriminatory. The three erstwhile Directors of Essar Steel – Prashant Ruia, Dilip Oommen, and Rajiv Bhatnagar – also moved the Appellate Tribunal against the approval of ArcelorMittal’s resolution plan. NCLAT has already given a conditional nod to ArcelorMittal’s resolution plan for debt-ridden Essar Steel.

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NCLAT MAY ASK ARCELORMITTAL TO DEPOSIT RS 42,000 CR BID AMOUNT FOR ACQUIRING ESSAR STEEL

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Tuesday said it may direct global steel major ArcelorMittal to deposit Rs 42,000 crore bid amount for acquiring Essar Steel in separate accounts during next hearing on April 23. A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya said that ArcelorMittal may have to deposit the money in a separate account either before the NCLAT or NCLT Ahmedabad-bench. The bench also asked ArcelorMittal to file an affidavit before it, detailing the steps to be taken for implementation of the resolution plan of debt ridden Essar Steel. ArcelorMittal India, successful resolution applicant, would file an affidavit for implementation of plan, the bench said. It further said, The Appellate Tribunal may direct the successful resolution applicant to deposit money in one or another account in next date of hearing. The bench also said that original plan approved by NCLT Ahmedabad has to be implemented. The bench also directed the operational creditors and financial creditors of Essar Steel to file a chart next week, detailing their claims approved by resolution professional and CoC.

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NCLAT BARS PROMOTER FIRM FROM PLEDGING OMAXE SHARES

Omaxe promoter entity Guild Builders has been restricted from further pledging of its shares in the realty firm as the NCLAT Tuesday modified the order passed by the NCLT in a dispute between the company's CMD Rohtas Goel and his younger brother Sunil Goel. l had approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the order passed by the Chandigarh bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which had directed Guild Builders not to create pledge on 1.48 crore shares of realty firm except for top-up or margin calls. He had contended that the figure of 1.48 crore was not correct as Guild Builders in December last year informed bourses that 7.32 crore shares were pledged out of total 11.44 crore shares held by it in Omaxe Ltd. Hearing the appeal, a two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya modified the NCLT order by deleting the figure. We find that NCLT while dealing with the defence of the Respondent Company (Guild Builders) did not consider that the Company under the Regulations was filing information with the BSE and also NSE which did not match with the defence which was being taken, said NCLAT. It further added that it was an incomplete information and the figure 1.48 crore used by NCLT in the Impugned Order is deleted and the Impugned Order dated 15th March, 2019 stands modified accordingly.

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POWER PRODUCERS OUTSTANDING DUES ON DISCOMS SPIKE 20% TO NEARLY RS 41K CRORE IN JANUARY

Outstanding dues of power producers on electricity distribution utilities have increased by more than 20 per cent to Rs 40,804 crore in January 2019 compared to the year-ago month, adding to the woes of the stressed sector. According to PRAAPTI portal, discoms owed a total of Rs 33,848 crore to power generation companies in January 2018. In January this year, total overdue amount, which was not cleared even after 60 days of grace period offered by generators, stood at Rs 26,052 crore against Rs 20,264 crore in same month in 2018. Power producers give 60 days time to discoms for paying bills for the supply of electricity. After that the outstanding becomes overdue and generators charge penal interest on that in most of the cases. The data on the portal indicates that the outstanding as well as overdue amount has also increased over the preceding month. In December 2018, the total outstanding on discoms was Rs 39,400 crore while the total overdue amount was Rs 24,262 crore. Maharasthra tops the list with 610 days to make payments, followed by Rajasthan (608 days), Tamil Nadu (606 days), Madhya Pradesh (593 days), Karnataka (580 days), Uttar Pradesh (575 days) and Delhi (575 days) in that order. Overdues of public sector thermal power companies amount to over 52 per cent of the total overdue of Rs 26,052 crore on discoms. NTPC alone has overdue amount of Rs 8,200 crore on discoms, while NHPC has Rs 1,596 crore and Damodar Valley Corporation at Rs 1,131 crore. To address delayed payments by discoms, a high-level committee headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha had recommended that public finance institutions (PFIs), such as REC and PFC, may discount the receivables from discoms and make an upfront payment to the generators. Against that, the PFIs will realise their dues from discoms in due course of time and charge interest for the period of delay in payment by discoms.

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PROBE RED FLAGS CLUB EARNINGS FROM HIGH FEES

An investigation by the corporate affairs ministry has red-flagged violations of the Companies Act in the elite Gymkhana Club, in particularly the manner in which it has been continued to earn interest from accumulation of membership entrance fees deposited by applicants who can, given the long waiting period, become members currently only after 15 years and which can also stretch up to 30-35 years. The club has been increasing the entrance fee for applicants under government and non-government category, which they need to deposit at the time of submitting application. There has been an increase in the entrance fee for non-government category. The preliminary findings refer to an increase from Rs 5,000 in 2000 for the government category to Rs 1.5 lakh in 2016. On the other hand, the registration fee of non-government applicants was increased from Rs 5,000 in 2000 to Rs 7.5 lakh in 2016. Gymkhana Club is registered as a company under the Companies Act. The ministry in its report said that the receipt of money by the company from the applicants for more than 365 days tantamount to acceptance of deposits and amounts to violation of provisions of the Companies Act. The report also says that the company was collecting or accepting huge registration fees over the years and investing them in interest bearing securities or for earning income from the fee of those who are yet to be admitted as members. In view of the same the directors of the company have failed to act in accordance with the articles of the company and also failed to exercise their duties with due and reasonable skill and diligence and violated provisions, the report said. The ministry has shared the findings with the club last month and had sought its response. When asked, a senior functionary of the club said, We will give a comprehensive reply and we have sought some more time since we have to get response from all the board members since 2000. We are contesting the deposit of entrance fees which the ministry has said in the report. These are not deposits. He pointed out that almost every club charges such fees from applicants. While the club has said that the general committee (Board of Directors) has been revising the entrance fee by passing resolutions, the ministry has said the article of association (AoA) does not provide for revision of registration fees for the membership of the club. The revision of fees by the GC by passing resolution in Board Meeting over the years is ultra vires to the AOA of the company and voi ab initio, thus bad in law.

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LENDERS AGREE TO STERLING SEZ'S OFFER FOR A ONE-TIME SETTLEMENT

Public sector banks have decided to withdraw bankruptcy proceedings against a second Sterling group company — Sterling SEZ and Infrastructure — even as the fate of a similar one-time settlement (OTS) offer is yet to be decided by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in the case of Sterling Biotech. The Mumbai Bench of NCLT will hear on Wednesday the lenders’ petition regarding the offer made by Sterling SEZ. The firm was referred to the NCLT in July 2018 for debt resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016. As on date, credit facilities to the extent of Rs 8,100 crore have been availed by the group and this has declared a fraud account by the concerned banks.

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AMRAPALI PAID UP TO 30% OF FLAT COST AS COMMISSION TO AGENTS: AUDIT

In a startling revelation, the Supreme Court-appointed forensic auditors told the court that the Amrapali group used to pay exorbitant commission of up to 30% of flat cost to various marketing agents and companies to sell the flats while crores of home-buyers’ money was diverted by the promoters and directors for personal gain. In a voluminous report, auditors Pawan Kumar Aggarwal and Ravi Bhatia, who were given the task to conduct forensic audit of 46 registered companies of the group and other shell companies set up by the company, said over Rs 25 crore of home-buyers’ money was used by top officials of the company to invest in LIC, mutual funds and shares. The report said CMD of Amrapali group Anil Sharma had transferred around Rs 11 crore to his various family members over the years. Appearing before a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit, Aggarwal told the court that he was also examining the role of other very important persons who were beneficiaries of diversion of home-buyers’ money by the Amrapali group but said they were not co-operating with him. He said in some cases 30 percent of flat cost was paid as commission to agents and told the court that he will file a supplementary report after examining the others. The report said various marketing agents such as investor clinic which has got flats in lieu of commissions and other vendors who have got flats for barter should be asked to surrender the flats which should be sold to recover the funds. Referring to the report, counsel for home-buyers M L Lahoty told the court that money siphoned off by the company officials should be recovered by taking away their personal assets. He said there are 11 projects of Amrapali which could be completed with the money raised from selling unsold units and by getting the dues from home-buyers. The forensic report mentions documentary evidence which show that funds were transferred to more than 100 shell companies outside the Amrapali group through dubious transactions. The bench, after examining the report, said the case had been pending for more than a year and posted it for April 30 for final hearing. It asked the auditors to file their supplementary report before the next hearing.

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SC IRKED OVER CIRCULATION OF FORENSIC AUDITORS' REPORT ON AMRAPALI BEFORE FILING

The Supreme Court Tuesday expressed annoyance over circulation of forensic auditors' report among lawyers on the embattled Amrapali Group before it was submitted to the court. The top court said it will hear from April 30 the pleas of home buyers on whether the property titles can be given to them. It will also look into the ways their money diverted to other ventures by Amrapali can be realised and the the stalled projects be completed. It said that if anyone has to benefit from the Amrapali case it is the hassled home buyers who invested their earnings but were not given the flats. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit said that it was taking serious note of the circulation of the report of forensic auditors among the lawyers even before it was submitted in the court and this should not have happened. It directed that the forensic report be kept in sealed cover. The bench took on record the final report comprising nine volumes submitted by the two court appointed forensic auditors and directed them to finish their work by April 28.

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NBCC SEEKS MORE TIME TO REVISE BID FOR JAYPEE INFRATECH

State-run construction company NBCC has sought an extension of more than two weeks from the Committee of Creditors (CoC) overseeing Jaypee Infratech’s insolvency resolution process to submit a revised bid for the company, said two persons with direct knowledge of the development. This may lead to further delay in the insolvency process of the troubled real estate developer even as the stipulated 270-day deadline for CoC to decide on a winning bid ends on May 6. The extension sought by the company is in the wake of its CMD Anoop Kumar Mittal’s term coming to an end last week, said one of the sources. This may result in some more delay in the entire process as NBCC was earlier seen leading the race.

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HIGHER PROVISIONING OVER IL&FS EXPOSURE COULD DRAIN BANK BALANCE SHEETS

Lenders may have got a temporary breather, being allowed to defer classifying of IL&FS loans as Non-Performing Assets (NPA), but such a move could affect bank balance sheets if they are too long in denial, according to brokerages. In February, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ruled that no financial institution will declare non-payment of dues by IL&FS or its subsidiaries as NPAs without prior approval of the appellate tribunal. However, last month, the RBI filed a review petition challenging NCLAT’s order. The spotlight will yet again be on IL&FS exposure and the recognition of and provisions against it, pointed out HDFC Securities in a note. For instance, IndusInd Bank, which has an exposure of over Rs3,000 crore, set aside Rs500 crore till December 2018, but will likely increase its provisioning to Rs700 crore for the March 2019 quarter, denting its profitability. Likewise, Punjab National Bank, which has an exposure of Rs 2,300 crore, too could face the music. Provisioning will keep earnings under pressure. Asset quality excluding IL&FS will be stable, noted Kotak Institutional Securities. For Bank of Baroda, the just-concluded quarter could have been good but for its exposure to the ailing infrastructure giant. The bank, which lent over Rs4,680 crore, could see slippages and higher provisions against IL&FS exposure, leading to downside risks. Ditto for Union Bank of India. Brokerages are drawing attention towards its treatment of IL&FS loans and provisions being made thereof. Notwithstanding the breather from NCLAT, analysts, and to an extent banks themselves, aren’t ruling out the underlying risks against IL&FS loans. Evidence of this came from new IL&FS board last week, which revealed that out of the 340-odd IL&FS group entities, just about 50 had enough capital to continue servicing debts.

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SIX MONTHS ON, 'MISSION IL&FS' IS PROVING TO BE MORE DIFFICULT THAN THOUGHT

A week before Lehman Brothers foundered in the autumn of 2008, the US Treasury had stepped in to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the ultimate backstops in America’s mortgage-lending market. Initially, $100 billion was the authorized bailout package that surged to $187 billion over time. And the Treasury’s emergency intervention was based on the premise that Washington must do its bit to reconstruct a financing ecosystem underpinned by trust. Exactly ten years later, Mumbai’s policy and money-market mavens sat around oak-panelled boardrooms to decide the fate of a troubled financier that, although nowhere as large as the embattled leaders in US housing securitisation, owns and runs arterial roads, ports and warehouses across India. Hence, reviving IL&FS and shepherding its turnaround is as crucial to infrastructure - and capital-deficient India as was Washington’s challenge to reengage the mortgage securitisation market stateside. By way of federal intent and urgency, the similarities are evident. But that is where they appear to have ended, at least for now. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earned the Treasury $58 billion in profits over the next decade, on tax-dollar investments of $187 billion in bailouts. To be sure, New Delhi has not promised a bailout package or forgiven loans to the defaulting group, replacing instead the management at IL&FS with a new board. The premise here is that IL&FS owns sufficiently attractive assets that could be sold to help retire liabilities and enhance recoveries. While the first part of the argument is not in question, at least in theory, the second seems to have been rather optimistic – especially in the light of about Rs 1 lakh crore in outstanding debt. So, six months later, IL&FS remains as much an enigma as it was in the autumn of 2018. It has high gearing, with consolidated debt to equity of 10:1, and glaring asset liability mismatches, pointing to the likelihood of significantly lower loan recoveries than earlier thought. Of course, the subprime reference has never been too far away from IL&FS. In August, when it ran out of money and was unable to repay debt obligations, it drew comparisons with the Lehman crisis. From an original debt burden of Rs 91,000 crore, the situation has worsened because of delays in infrastructure projects, eroding the value of many operating assets. Earlier, the assessment was that special purpose vehicles (SPVs) were covered by their own cash flows, but now banks are making provisions on SPVs as well. I am not sure if the whole episode was handled well after and prior to the crisis, said TT Ram Mohan. The new board and management are taking very long to get a grip on the numerous businesses of the group. To some extent, this is, perhaps, inevitable since they are new to the businesses. It would have been helpful if the board had quickly prioritised 10-12 assets that could be sold off so that liquidity could be infused into the other businesses. IL&FS Financial Services, with a loan book of over Rs 18,000 crore, saw non-performing loans reach 90%. The management has recovered 10% of the doubtful exposure in six months. The recoverability of the loans either by IFIN or to third party is posing a challenge both in terms of timelines and the amount of money that can be possessed, said N Sivaraman. Clients IFIN lent to are weak, which could have an impact on what we recover. The management is trying to address operational challenges such as securing the release of O&M payments, termination notices from authorities, coercive action from international creditors, and litigations renewing critical bank guarantees. It has developed a liquidity management framework using a 12-month, cash flow based solvency test. The group has several types of creditors. They include banks, NCD holders, provident funds, mutual funds, foreign banks and financiers that funded ECBs. The company has more than 150 intervening applications from companies across sectors. It has appointed Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas as its legal advisors. The company has prepared a list of companies under the Red category, where liquidation appears to be the most appropriate goal. It has decided to pay creditors under the Green category, while exposure under the Amber category is under dispute. If we do not have a calm period, we will not have the management bandwidth for the task because we would not know whether to handle litigation or resolution, said Sivaraman. The management wants IL&FS to be maintained as a going concern. It has received binding bids for the energy business. Between the energy and road verticals, the company plans to recover Rs 30,000 crore of debt. A large number of road assets are part of the sale process. If the resolution process is allowed to stretch beyond a particular point, bankers and other creditors are going to see a steep value erosion. The new management can now only do the best of a bad job and minimise the loss to creditors.

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ICICI HOLDING UP CRUCIAL INFORMATION, DELAYING PROBE AGAINST CHANDA KOCHHAR, RUES ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday accused the ICICI Bank if delaying the probe against Chanda Kochhar. The bank has not yet shared information on details of loans forwarded to NuPower and Videocon, the investigative agency claimed. According to ED sources, the agency had sought from the ICICI Bank management certain information, including specific dates and the amount of loans sanctioned to NuPower, Essar and Videocon Group. The request for the information were sent back long time ago. The agency had also sent a formal request letter two weeks ago, but there has been no response yet from the bank. This is causing unnecessary delay to the probe, an ED official told this publication. According to officials, the information is important to establish facts because different versions had arisen during the questioning. The agency had specifically asked for the date of meeting held with NuPower, details of the sanctioning committee, their attendance during the meeting, agenda, decisions and discussions and the exact date when the loans were sanctioned to these companies. It was just to establish the discrepancies in the statement recorded so far, the official said.

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RS 10 LAC FINE ON MAHILA VIKAS CO-OP BANK, AHMEDABAD

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 10.00 lakh on The Mahila Vikas Co-operative Bank Ltd. Ahmedabad (Gujarat) (Non-scheduled UCB) in exercise of the powers vested in it. The UCB was found guilty of violation of RBI instructions and guidelines relating to ceiling on unsecured advances, loans and advances to directors, relatives and firms/concerns in which they are interested and KYC/AML guidelines.

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TATAS COMPLETE TAKE OVER OF USHAM MARTIN'S STEEL BUSINESS

Tata Sponge has said it has completed the acquisition of Usha Martin's steel business undertaking including captive power plants, on Tuesday, April 09, 2019. The deal was completed pursuant to a cash consideration of Rs 4094 crore payable to UML after adjustment for negative working capital and debt like items, Tata Sponge said in an official notification to the exchanges. This is subject to further hold backs of Rs 640 crore, pending transfer of some of the assets including mines and certain land parcels, the Tata Sponge statement added. Tata Sponge is Tata Steel's chosen vehicle for acquistion of UML steel division. Tata Steel had entered into an greement for acquiring UML steel division in September 2018.

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FOREIGN FUNDS WANT TO COMPLETE MERGERS OFF MARKET, SEBI SAYS NO

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has put the applications of at least six foreign funds seeking buyout approvals which are part of their global plan, on hold, said two people privy to the development. These funds had asked the capital market regulator to allow the transfer of shares as part of the acquisition through off-market transactions because of the costs of doing these transaction through the stock exchanges. But, Sebi is insisting that these funds buy and sell the shares through the bourses to ensure transparency. The reluctance of the regulator to allow such off-market transactions could impact global fund buyouts and mergers, including acquisition of Oppenheimer by US based Invesco and merger of OceanRock Investments with Canadabased Northwest & Ethical (NEI) Investments. A leading European bank is in the process of acquiring fund house Janus Henderson. It will also impact the fund consolidation activity happening in Europe where FPIs such as Amundi and Columbia Threadneedle are undertaking cross-border mergers. All these funds have exposure to Indian stocks. Their total India holdings could not be ascertained but people in the know said they could be worth at least $2 billion. Foreign funds are wary of transferring the shares through stock exchange platform since they would be subject to taxes including Securities Transactional Tax (STT) and capital gains tax, thereby increasing the cost of acquisitions. These funds, which have significant exposure to several blue-chip stocks, have told the regulator that selling and buying shares on the exchange could trigger volatility in the markets. Market regulator Sebi has been opposed to off-market transactions, which has been traditionally misused by market participants to structure opaque deals and avoid tax outgo. The regulator has expressed its discomfort over such waivers since the entities would not be paying any tax even as they are undergoing a change in control, said one of the sources cited above. Intelligence agencies are also wary about transactions that happen off the regulatory radar, both in listed and unlisted space. Foreign funds are pushing Sebi to grant them the same benefits that companies get for share transfers. For instance, if a company acquires another company, transfer of the shares from one company to another can be done off-market. Inter se transfer of shares — done within promoter groups — are also allowed to conduct off-market deals. However, there is no specific exemption if the transaction involves two trusts. All major FPIs are structured in form of trusts. The mergers and acquisitions of global funds in progress have already received regulatory approval in their home jurisdictions and all these funds are based out of either the US or Europe In addition to Sebi, the central government too has been wary of such off-market transaction as promoters of several investors have used the route for tax avoidance and money laundering purposes. In the Union Budget FY18, the government withdrew all the tax benefits for off-market transactions including the benefit of LTCG tax. During that time, LTCG on listed entities was nil if the investor had paid STT. In the Union Budget FY19, the government reintroduced LTCG for listed entities. However, it is more expensive to do an off-market transaction since they attract 20 per cent LTCG tax compared to 10 per cent if the transaction is done on exchange platform and STT is paid for.

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DABBA TRADING RACKET BUSTED, ONE ARRESTED WITH RS 75,000

A 42-year-old resident of Puna was arrested by crime branch sleuths from his shop in Magob area of the city for doing unauthorized trading in stocks through his dabba trading network on Tuesday. Police seized cash and computer equipment worth Rs75,000 from accused Sunil Dangra’s shop in Citadel Complex. He was produced in a local court which remanded him in police custody for six days. Police are to yet question him about his associates in the illegal enterprise. Dangra was running the trading terminal without required permissions and licences. He did not pay taxes to the government for the transactions, police informed. Dangra was booked for gambling under Indian Penal Code and Securities Contract (Regulation) Act and also under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act. Dangra told police that he was earlier doing textile business in Mumbai along with his father. He invested some money in the stocks through authorized brokers and gradually gained knowledge in stock trading. Meanwhile, the family shifted to city where it started textile business in 2009. He started unauthorized stock trading to make quick money after suffering a loss of Rs8 lakh in the business.

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OPEN OFFER FOR FEDERAL MOGUL SHAREHOLDERS REACHES SAT

The open offer for shareholders of Federal Mogul Goetze has reached the doors of the Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) with the acquirer filing an appeal in response to the directive by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to hike the offer price. Tenneco Inc is making the open offer for 25% shares of the Indian entity following its global acquisition of Federal Mogul. Sebi, in its final observation letter in response to the draft letter on March 20, directed a revision of the offer price to Rs 608.46 from Rs 400 mentioned in the open offer on March 20. The acquirer company, through its merchant banker CKP Financial, filed an appeal on April 1 before SAT. The determination of the next steps of the open offer will be subject to the proceedings before SAT, the target company said in a filing. In November 2018, Sebi had appointed Haribhakti & Co to undertake an independent fair valuation of the equity shares of Federal Mogul Goetze based on which the new price has been communicated. Federal Mogul Goetze had said that the basis and the valuation methodology used to arrive at the revised offer price had not been provided in the communication by Sebi. Therefore, neither the acquirer nor Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) has been granted an opportunity to review or verify the underlying methodology of any report or other analysis that was relied upon by Sebi in directing the acquirer to revise the offer price, Federal Mogul Goetze said. It had sought details of the valuation from Sebi. Shareholders of Federal Mogul Goetze had represented to Sebi on the open offer price, citing the fact that its shares are infrequently traded and the valuation needs to factor in that. In a note on the open offer last year, proxy advisory firm Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES) had said: In cases of open offers where shares are infrequently traded, regular formula of 60 trading days volume weighted average is not applicable under SAST Regulations. In fact, as it turns out in case of Federal Moghul Goetze, the market price doesn’t play any role in determining offer price. Commenting on the revised price communicated by Sebi, JN Gupta, managing director at SES, said: I am happy at Sebi’s intervention in the matter, which is a step in right direction. This plugs the loophole that could have been used to deny minority investors their rightful dues, he said. While I would still like Sebi to revise definition of infrequently traded shares so that need for Sebi’s intervention on case by case is avoided. A wide difference between valuation arrived at by a truly independent valuer appointed by Sebi vs value arrived at by company appointed valuer exposes the weakness of the system, Gupta added. SES had said in the advisory note that not only Federal, but 114 out of Top 1,000 companies fail to meet this benchmark and in case these companies were to make open offer, they will be able to make open offer at non-transparent price.

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FORTIS PUTS UP RHT STAKE FOR SALE, THREE MONTHS AFTER ACQUISITION

Fortis Healthcare Ltd is in talks with potential buyers to sell its stake in Singapore-listed Religare Health Trust (RHT), three months after it completed the acquisition of RHT’s assets for ₹4,650 crore. RHT Health Trust Manager Pte. Ltd (in its capacity as trustee-manager of RHT Health Trust (RHT) wishes to inform unitholders of RHT that it has been notified by Fortis Healthcare International Ltd (FHIL), a controlling unitholder of RHT, and Stellant Capital Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd, the sole shareholder of the trustee-manager, that they have each commenced discussions with various parties to explore the possibility of sale of their interests in RHT and the trustee-manager, respectively, Fortis Healthcare International, a unit of Fortis Healthcare, said in a regulatory filing on Monday. The proposed transaction will help raise funds to fulfil the needs of Fortis Healthcare as its acquisition by Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Ltd is in limbo. The Supreme Court had in December ordered a status quo on the Fortis-IHH deal, following Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo’s contempt plea against the Singh brothers.

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HOW IS GOOGLE'S GPAY OPERATING WITHOUT AUTHORISATION: DELHI HC ASKS RBI

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) how Google's mobile payment app, GPay, was facilitating financial transactions without the requisite authorisation from it. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani posed the query to RBI while hearing a PIL which claimed that GPay was acting as a payments system provider in violation of the Payments and Settlements Act as it has no valid authorisation from the central bank of the country to carry out such functions. The court issued notice to RBI and Google India seeking their stand on the issue raised in the plea by Abhijit Mishra, who has contended that GPay does not figure in RBI's list of authorised 'payment systems operators' released by the central bank on March 20, 2019.

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SOME REFORMS IN INDIA SHOW BENEFITS OF DIGITALISATION: IMF

Some reforms in India have shown the benefits of digitalisation which has also reduced the opportunities for discretion and fraud, the IMF said in its latest report on Wednesday. The introduction of e-procurement in India and Indonesia has also increased competition and led to better quality of construction, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest edition of the fiscal monitor report released ahead of the its annual spring meeting with the World Bank. Some reforms in India show the benefits of digitalisation and reducing opportunities for discretion and fraud, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest edition of the fiscal monitor report released ahead of the its annual spring meeting with the World Bank. The introduction of e-procurement in India and Indonesia also increased competition and led to better quality of construction, it said. External scrutiny by Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), parliaments and civil society helps safeguard the integrity of public finances and hold civil servants and elected officials accountable, the IMF said, adding that focused audits can help fight corruption by identifying waste and miss-management. IMF staff projections are that the achievement of the federal government deficit target of three per cent of GDP will likely be delayed and that the debt target of 40 per cent of GDP will be achieved after 2024, it said. On the other hand in China, the government plans a more proactive fiscal stance for 2019 that would include reductions in the value-added, personal income and corporate income tax rates. General government debt is projected to rise over the medium term to over 72 per cent of the GDP by 2024, the IMF added.

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ESSEL WOES: KOTAK AMC MAY NOT FULLY REPAY INVESTORS IN REDEEMED FMP

In a written communication to investors of Kotak FMP Series 127 that matured on April 8, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co said that it may not be able to pay the entire redemption amount to its investors. The scheme said it may face a delay in recovering its money that it had invested in the non-convertible debentures (NCD) of two of Essel group companies, namely Edisons Utility Works Pvt Ltd and Konti Infrapower & Multiventures Pvt Ltd. As a result, investors may get their part redemption proceeds upon the scheme’s maturity and the rest will come to them as and when the fund house recovers the money from the companies, Kotak AMC said. The FMP was launched around November 2015. Although the NCDs are backed by equity shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zee), most of the lenders and mutual funds who had lent money (in other words, bought the debt securities) to the Essel group had chosen to not sell the shares to recover the money if there is any default. Lenders have granted this moratorium till around September 2019 by which time they, including Kotak AMC, expect the group to repay all its dues.

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DIGITAL GOLD ACCOUNTS CROSS 80 MILLION, MORE THAN TWICE DEMAT ACCOUNTS

Digital gold accounts in the country have risen significantly, taking the customer base past the 80 million mark by March end. This is more than twice the total number of demat accounts in the country. The two national depositories had 35 million demat accounts between them at the end of 2018 and are estimated to have 40 million by end of 2019. Demat of shares was first launched in 1997. While first digital gold account was launched some fifteen years later in 2012-13. Digital gold or gold purchased online on various platforms, including PayTm or Google Pay, and stored in online accounts, has seen a surge the past one year. In the past two years PayTm, a wallet and SafeGold, (a brand with Digital Gold, a Joint Venture between the Private Equity firm Invent Capital and the World Gold Council} are offering the precious metal in digital form. Augmont, an integrated entity engaged in everything -- from refining of gold ore to retailing of pure gold -- started offering digital gold or Digi Gold in 2012. Industry estimates 8-9 tonnes of gold is sold a year on these platforms and some tonnes are delivered. Online sale of gold jewellery and coins is catching up faster and increase in customer base of digital gold has only added to the worries of physical jewellers, especially mom-and-pop stores. Online players are offering physical delivery at the doorstep and free storage and are also allowing account holders to convert gold held digitally into jewellery. MMTC-Pamps delivers and keeps aside gold sold by wallets like PayTm, Google Pay and PhonePe. Its official, who didn't wish to be named, said, We expect sharper growth in digital accounts opened as now Google Pay has also started offering them.

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BANKS TO POST BETTER PERFORMANCE IN FY20

With banks firm on the recovery track, the fourth quarter is likely to see improved performance and lower non-performing loans Most analysts believe fiscal 2019-20 is set to bring in better tidings, barring a few uncertainties such as the Supreme Court ruling on the February 12 circular and continuing concerns at the IL&FS Group. Private sector lenders such as RBL Bank and HDFC Bank are set to announce their results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, as well as for the financial year 2018-19 from next week. While RBL Bank’s results will be announced on April 18, HDFC Bank has scheduled it for April 20, and Axis Bank, which has its board meeting on April 25 and 26. ICICI Bank, as well as other public sector lenders, are set to announce their results later in May. Most analysts believe that the period of stress and the bad loan cycle is now coming to an end, with more focus on resolution and credit and deposit growth. Post elections, it is expected that there will be further improvement, as there is likely to be more credit demand. Banks are likely to head into a steady fourth quarter and continue to see improvement in asset quality metrics with low stress and constant provisioning, leading to high provision coverage ratios. Though the recent large resolutions are not likely to reflect in the fourth quarter, they should not even attract ageing provisions, stock broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher said in a recent report. Kotak Institutional Equities said the government’s recent capital infusion programme will help some banks make aggressive provisions and lower their bad loans to less than 6 per cent, allowing them to exit the Prompt Corrective Action framework. Most of our discussions with banks in recent times suggest that the unrecognised stress in corporate loans is negligible, especially after IL&FS. Risks emanating from real estate are not too high, it said, adding that resolution through the IBC has slowed, as several high-profile cases could not reach a conclusion as anticipated earlier. However, progress continues outside through settlements, upgradation, and write-offs, it said.

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HARD TIMES FOR NON-OIL CPSES, LIKELY TO REPORT LOSSES FOR SECOND YR RUNNING

The last five years have been the worst for listed central public sectors enterprises (CPSEs) in 15 years. For the first time since FY04, 38 CPSEs, excluding oil marketing companies, are expected to report a net loss for a second consecutive year in FY19. With this non-oil government companies would be in red for three out of last five financial years. These listed CPSEs are expected to report a net loss of around Rs 21,700 crore during the year ending March this year based on their performance during April-December 2018 period down from a combined net profit of around Rs 63,700 crore during FY14. These listed CPSEs together reported net losses of Rs 16,279 crore during the first nine-months of FY19. In comparison, non-oil CPSEs' combined net profit grew at a compounded annual rate (CAGR) of 8.4 per cent during the two terms of United Progressive Alliance (UPA), while the combined net profit of listed CPSEs (including oil companies) expanded at an annualised rate of 7.5 per cent during the period. Public sector banks (PSBs) have been the biggest losers in the last five years. They are on track to report losses for the fourth consecutive year in FY19 based on their earnings during the first nine-months of FY19. Listed PSBs, together, reported a net loss of around Rs 31,600 crore during April-December 2018 period. Public sector companies also continue to struggle with poor revenue growth. The combined revenues of non-oil CPSEs are likely to grow at a CAGR of 2.7 per during FY14-18 down from 11.6 per cent annualised growth during FY09-14 and 17.2 per cent annualised growth during FY04-09. The combined revenues for all listed CPSEs, including energy companies, is likely to grow at a CAGR of 1.7 per cent in the last five years as against 12.2 per cent CAGR growth during UPA-II and 18.3 per cent CAGR growth during UPA-I. The analysis is based on annual finances of a sample of 44 listed CPSEs across sectors. Some of the key CPSEs in the sample include State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, NTPC, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Power Grid Corporation among others. The combined net profit of public sector oil & gas companies is likely to grow at a CAGR of 7.7 per cent during FY09-14 against nine per cent annualised growth during FY09-14 and 3.8 per cent annualised growth in earnings during FY04-09. Poor show by CPSEs has a negative implication for government finances as well. Dividend from CPSEs has been an important source of non-tax revenues for the central government which has nearly dried-up now hitting the overall public finance, says Madan. Most experts don’t see an immediate turnaround in CPSEs finances. It will take at least two years of strong growth in the industrial sector and a surge in investment rate in the economy to pull government owned companies from their current slump, says G Chokkalingam.

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URBAN MIDDLE CLASS UPBEAT ABOUT NEXT 12 MONTHS: HSBC SURVEY

Notwithstanding concerns about a slowdown, a new survey by HSBC has found a majority of the Indian urban middle class to be positive about the next 12 months, including their future income and spends. The survey also threw up some interesting consumption trends. Recent comments by some consumer companies have suggested that there will be some slowdown in the consumer sector in the coming quarter. Our survey results suggest that urban consumers are upbeat about the next 12 months, and the relative slowdown could be temporary and may not last for the entire year 2019, said the survey, India: Anatomy of the Consumer. As part of the exercise, it surveyed 1,000 members of the urban middle class living in major cities who have an annual household income above ₹7 lakh. They were asked 50 questions about their consumption habits. Concerns over slowdown have emanated due to factors such as rural distress, lukewarm urban demand, and liquidity issues in the trade channel, which has led to destocking and the base effect from last year, HSBC said, adding that this is probably affecting the lower end of the consumer market. Given that this is an election year, there is a focus on boosting rural and lower middle-class incomes a theme we believe will continue after the election, it further noted. The survey found that 80 per cent of the respondents are optimistic about the economy for the next 12 months, while 45 per cent are very optimistic. Similarly, 41 per cent expect their income to increase by more than 10 per cent, and another 39 per cent expect an increase of at least 5 per cent over the next 12 months. Interestingly, the survey also threw up some insights into consumer trends . For instance, with food delivery apps now available, 77 per cent of the respondents believe they have increased the number of food orders over the last two years, with 44 per cent having food home delivered at least once a week.

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HOME BUYERS ALERT! RERA LIMITATION LEADS TO 72 PCT DELAYED REAL ESTATE PROJECTS IN MMR, NCR

Around 72 per cent of the delayed projects in India are in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Delhi-NCR. The industry insiders say it has happened despite the setting up of a regulatory mechanism, countless homebuyers have been left in the lurch by their builders because these projects don't fall under the ambit of RERA. Tightening credit crunch is also a reason for such delay, say realty experts. Detailing over the delayed projects in MMR and NCR Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants said, As per ANAROCK data, the top 7 cities currently have a total stock of 5.6 lakh delayed housing units worth a whopping Rs 4,51,750 Cr. These units were launched either in 2013 or before that. Lakhs of buyers across top cities – particularly MMR and NCR - have been left in limbo, leading to inconceivable mental stress and financial pain. Puri went on to add that the top cities like NCR and MMR collectively account for 72 per cent of the total stuck housing units across the top 7 cities worth Rs 3,49,010 Cr – nearly 77 per cent of the total worth of the stuck projects. In comparison, the main Southern cities of Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad together account for a mere 10 per cent of the overall stuck housing units of a total worth of Rs 41,770 Cr. The Southern cities have predominantly been driven by service-class end-users, leaving limited scope for developers to be unprofessional. Interestingly, among the two major IT destinations, Bengaluru is far better off than Pune in terms of the total number of delayed/stuck projects. The Silicon Valley of India has less than half of the total delayed stock in Pune (of 86,700 units). Chennai has the least project delays during this period, with around 8,650 units worth INR 5,620 Crore, said Anuj Puri of ANAROCK Property Consultants. Elaborating upon the reason for such a whopping number of delayed inventories in MMR, NCR Rakesh Yadav, CMD, Antriksh India Group said, Besides some developers' lack of real will to complete their projects and preference for funds diversion, the tightening credit crunch has been one major factor contributing to this mounting problem. It has become a 'chicken and egg' situation - buyers have understandably stopped releasing funds to builders, and builders claim they have no funds to complete construction. Also, every delayed project results in cost overruns which compound the funding crunch even further. Lack of project clearances for whatever reason also contributes to the piling up of housing stock. In the pre-RERA era, many builders launched greenfield projects without the requisite approvals in place, resulting in their projects getting stuck. Yadav said that the government-owned NBCC has been roped in to complete some stalled projects in NCR. This is a significant move which, if applied in larger numbers, can have a real impact.

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VODAFONE IDEA, AIRTEL PAY UP RS 9,000 CR DUES FOR SPECTRUM

Vodafone Idea, India’s largest telco by subscribers, and second-ranked Bharti Airtel, have paid spectrum dues worth over Rs 9,000 crore to the government recently, officials in the Department of Telecommunications said. Vodafone Idea paid Rs 6,277 crore for the spectrum it had bought in auctions, while Bharti Airtel paid about Rs 2,800 crore, a senior DoT official said. Vodafone Idea borrowed money to help clear the dues after the department rejected its request for a moratorium on spectrum payments. It proposes to repay the loans after a rights issue this month. Our company has arranged a short-term bridge loan of Rs 3,000 crore from HDFC Bank, Vodafone Idea said in its rights issue document filed with the stock exchanges on March 26. Our company will re-pay this short-term bridge loan from the net proceeds (of the rights issue). Vodafone Idea’s rights issue to raise Rs 25,000 crore opens on April 10. The company said it planned to take short-term loans for the remaining amount of Rs 3,277.1 crore or finance it through internal accruals. The last date of payment for the three private sector operators, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, is April 10.

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WHATSAPP PLANS THIRD-PARTY AUDIT FOR ITS PAYMENT SYSTEM

WhatsApp has identified a third-party company to audit its payments system for data-localisation compliance, the popular messaging platform has told the Supreme Court in response to Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) affidavit last month. In its response to the apex court on Tuesday, WhatsApp said it has also submitted a ‘confidential revised data-localisation plan’ to all stakeholders. WhatsApp did not name the auditor it has chosen for compliance check. Incidentally, sources in the regulatory body National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said WhatsApp, which has over 200 million active users in the country, is yet to commit to an official timeline to be fully compliant with RBI’s data-localisation norms. While WhatsApp will need NPCI’s nod to roll out full-scale payments to its over 200 million monthly active users in India, MeitY (ministry of IT and Technology) — which has been involved in the matter — would also need to be convinced of WhatsApp’s complete compliance with Indian rules. The original deadline to comply with RBI’s diktat was October 15 last year. There is no specific timeline that has come from WhatsApp on compliance. After RBI’s response in an affidavit became public, they have said they are aiming for compliance, much like their earlier communication, a person aware of the matter said, adding that compliance needs to be in place before an audit.

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1 IN 2 INDIANS RECEIVING FAKE NEWS VIA FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP

Despite tall claims made by Facebook that it is removing 10 lakh fake accounts a day in India, a survey revealed on Tuesday that one in two Indians has received fake news in the last 30 days and Facebook and WhatsApp are the platforms which are being used excessively to misinform the users. The survey by online startup Social Media Matters and New Delhi-based Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics found that over 53 per cent of Indians received fake news related to the upcoming elections over various social media platforms. Nearly 62 per cent of the population believes that the upcoming elections will be influenced by the misinformation that the users are receiving, the findings showed. The 18-25 age group that led the conversation constituted 54 per cent of the sample population. Facebook and WhatsApp are the leading platforms being used to disseminate misinformation. The survey stated that 96 per cent of the sample population received fake news via WhatsApp, the findings showed. An estimated 900 million voters (including 9.4 per cent new voters) are battling the influence of fake news as India goes to the polls from April 11.

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PSES TO STAY PSUS EVEN WITH BELOW 51% GOVERNMENT STAKE

The government is planning a major overhaul of the definition of state-run companies where an entity will continue to qualify as public sector enterprise (PSE) even if the government holding falls below 51 per cent. Sources in the Department of Public Enterprises said the change in definition is being discussed with the Finance Ministry, and an announcement could be made by the new government. There is a thinking that PSU definition should be maintained with government holding of, say, 40 per cent or 26 per cent in case of certain non-strategic entities. This will not only give flexibility to PSU boards in decision-making but also allow more room for the Centre to raise additional revenue from disinvestment, said a top PSE official aware of the proposed changes. Under the present definition, CPSEs are companies in which the direct holding of the central government or other CPSEs is 51 per cent or more. It can be brought down to, say, 40 per cent. It will still allow the Centre to be the largest shareholder especially in companies like NTPC, Powergrid, BHEL, where public shareholding is already very high. The changes will also facilitate consolidation among PSUs in different sectors. For example, the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) that has bought entire government equity in REC, now wants to merge the entity with itself. But this will bring down government shareholding in the merged entity to just about 42-43 per cent, taking the company outside the PSU-fold. If the threshold of the government holding is lowered, such consolidation will be promoted without companies fearing to lose their PSU character. This would be wonderful change that will allow PSU boards to be widely represented. The fear of a possible hostile takeover of companies with reduced government equity is also unfounded as the government with 40 per cent will still have substantial stake that can also rise if state/owned institutions, like LIC, also hold a sizeable share, said an industry expert. The government is already taking steps to reduce its stake in various PSUs. In the case of banks, the aim is to first reduce government shareholding to about 52 per cent, and then further down. In others, this exercise can be pursued rapidly. Market regulator SEBI also wants PSUs to increase public float to at least 25 per cent. The government has surpassed the FY19 disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore by Rs 5,000 crore. It has set a conservative target of Rs 90,000 from disinvestment in FY20. If the PSU definition is changed, it would be easier for the government to mobilise funds even in a choppy market as PSUs could be asked to buy back government shares. If markets are good, higher number of government shares in PSUs can be offered at a premium.

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THE FACEBOOK WAR ROOM THAT BATTLES FAKES IN POLL SEASON

Over half a dozen dashboards hang from a wall showing trends and live charts related to hate speech, misinformation and violent content in the elections operation centre at Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters in California. The centre, apart from similar ones in Dublin and Singapore, is crammed with 30 workstations that detect and report troublesome content on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, part of amassive election monitoring machinery that keeps an eye on India. With the first phase of India’s general elections starting on April 11, Facebook is keenly watching how its efforts over the last 18 months are paying off. As Indians prepare to vote Facebook and our family of apps continues our efforts to help make sure the elections are fair and free from interference, both foreign and domestic, said Ajit Mohan. The social media giant did some detailed planning and risk assessment across its platforms, including WhatsApp and Instagram, before undertaking the exercise. Preparations involved trips to not only New Delhi’s power corridors but also to rural India to understand linguistics, product consumption behaviour and awareness levels. These helped the social media giant modify its product features to suit linguistics and low-bandwidth needs. Facebook has about 300 million users in India, according market research portal Statista. For the operations centres, it’s not going to be an easy task. Its three global operations centres, which take down one million accounts every single day, are backed up by an army of 40 teams that include experts from data science, threat intelligence, linguistics, law enforcement and research. These centres can also depend on the services of about 30,000 content moderators across the company. When Facebook started work here, it realised that Indian users consume social media differently from users elsewhere. 

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CS Meetesh Shiroya