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Tuesday 28 February 2017

India Post Bank is likely to tap World War-era tech to garner business

  • Three things India Post will do to change the banking landscape
  • Postman to deliver cash at homes
  • Phone cell-based remittances and bill payments

It is back to basics for India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). It is tapping into World War-era phone-based technology and its vast network of postman to target a customer base of around 850 million, which either have no access to telephony or still depend on feature phones. 

“Banks and payments banks are two different things.Over 90% households have access to bank accounts. So, we are targeting remittances and bill payments,“ said an officer at the bank, which launched operations a month ago, offering 5.5% interest on deposits. 


Unlike full-fledged banks, payments banks can accept deposits up to Rs 1lakh and have to mandatorily park 75% of funds in government bonds.They are not allowed to offer loans either. 

With its network of over 1.5 post offices, IPPB is seen to be a major competitor for banks, especially in rural areas and small towns. The bank, floated by India Post, is running behind schedule as it is yet to tie up with a technology vendor for its banking services. But it is still targeting 2 crore customers in the first year with business of around Rs 450 crore.By the fifth year, the bank hopes to have eight crore customers with a business of Rs 2,500 crore. 

A key focus area for IPPB is one billion bills that are paid every month, with the average ticket size being Rs 300. This is where Giro -an electronic fund transfer tool used in Europe and Japan -will come in handy . Apart from helping customers settle bills, a worker in a city can add his wife or mother as a beneficiary and transfer funds into their accounts by issuing instructions to a call centre. The wife or the mother will then use Aadhaar based authentication to withdraw funds either at a post office or ask a postman to deliver cash at home, for which a small fee may be levied. 

IPPB is also in talks with the rural development ministry for accessing details of NREGA beneficiaries and pensioners getting funds under the National Social Assistance Programme.Again, idea is to make the payments Aadhaar-based to minimise leakages.


Source : The Economic Times

Friday 24 February 2017


NFPE                                                                                                NFPE
                        ALL INDIA POSTAL EMPLOYEES UNION
                           (GROUP-C, POSTMAN&MTS , GDS)
                                          CHITTOOR DIVISION

                  కాం.పాండురంగా రావు,  NFPE GDS జనరల్ సెక్రెటరీ,న్యూ డిల్లీ          
          ఆధ్వర్యం లో GDS వేతన కమిటీ నివేదిక గురించి అవగాహన సదస్సు
డియర్ కామ్రేడ్,
                        NFPE  GDS కేంద్ర నాయకులు కాం. పాండురంగ రావు గారు, శుక్రవారం అనగా 24.02.2017   చిత్తూరు విచ్చేయుచున్నారు.  ఈ సందర్బంగా చిత్తూరు  H.O నందు సమావేశం నిర్వహించదలచాము.   7 వ వేతన సవరణ లో బాగంగా సమర్పించిన GDS కమిటీ నివేదిక  పూర్తి వివరాలు, మరియు డిపార్ట్‌మెంట్ ఉద్యోగుల 7 వ వేతన సంఘం తాజా విషయాలను   కేంద్ర నాయకులు వివరించడం జరుగుతుంది.  కావున 24.02.2017 వ తేదీ సాయంత్రం 05.00 గం. లకు చిత్తూరు HO నందు జరుగు అవగాహన సదస్సుకు ప్రతి ఒక్కరూ తప్పక హాజరై  GDS కమిటీ లోని సందేహాలను నివృత్తి చేసుకోవలసినదిగా కోరడమై నది

    R.MOHANAJA REDDY                               S.B.SARDAR                           V .JANAKIRAM CHETTY 
DIVISIONAL SECRETARY                  DIVISIONAL SECRETARY           DIVISIONAL SECRETARY    
    AIPEU GDS NFPE                                      AIPEU  PIII                                  AIPEU POSTMAN

   CHITTOOR DIVISION                           CHITTOOR DIVISION                  CHITTOOR DIVISION

Reversal of Wrongly Deposit in BO RICT Machine

Sometime BPM deposit wrong amount in SB account due to typo error. In RICT Device there is no option to reversal this transaction. Now following procedure has to be adopted by SOL.


  • Freeze the SB account
  • Record the Transaction in Error Book.
  • Intimate your Divisional office to prepare a letter of reversal in the name of Manager CEPT, Chennai with following detail for reversal
1. Account No.
2. SOL id -
3. SOL Name -
4. BO Id -
5. BO Name :
6. Date of Transaction :
7. Amount :
8. Transaction ID.
9. Transaction Mode.
10. Remarks : (Details of Issue)
Now email the Divisional office letter and transaction list generated by BO Device to your CPC for raising the Ticket. CEPT will do the reversal.

HAPPY MAHASHIVRATRI 

IMPACT OF CONFEDERATION"S ONE DAY STRIKE ON 16.03.2017

Govt of India has acknowledged the strike notice and charter of demands submitted by Confederation of Central Govt Employees & Workers and issued directions to all concerned Ministries to take appropriate action. Letters received from Govt is given below.

M.KRISHNAN
Secretary General Confederation 
Mob & WhatsApp:  09447068125.

//copy//

Cadre Restructuring and Rotational Transfers 2017 - Karnataka Circle


Cadre Restructuring and Rotational Transfers 2017


Wednesday 22 February 2017

Allowances report today and allowance hike from April 1, says NJCA chief


NJCA chief Shiv Gopal Mishra confirmed that the allowances report would be submitted on Wednesday.

New Delhi, Feb 21: Committee on allowances, headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, will submit its report tomorrow, claims National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) convenor Shiv Gopal Mishra. Central government employees were expecting the report to be tabled by Monday. However, the committee delayed the submission due to unspecified reasons. The report would pave the way for the implementation of hiked allowances as per the revised 7th Pay Commission recommendations.

"Government has made no announcement yet. But the report by Committee on allowances would be tabled tomorrow," Shiv Gopal Mishra said, while speaking exclusively to India.com. On being asked whether the government would make an announcement in relation to the arrears on allowances, he replied, "Let us see what comes out of the report. We are expecting the hike in allowances, as per our demands. We have to wait and see whether the government makes an announcement on arrears as well."

The committee on allowances was formed in July 2016, after central government employees raised several anomalies related to the 7th Pay Commission report submitted by Justice (retd) AK Mathur. The 7CPC report had recommended the abolition of 51 existing allowances, and subsumption of 37 others of the total 191 allowances.


The major point of grievance was the reduction in Housing Rent Allowance (HRA) offered to central government employees. As per the 6th Pay Commission report, the HRAs provided were 30 per cent, 20 per cent, 10 per cent for employees living in 'X', 'Y', 'Z' category towns/cities. However, the 7th Pay Commission report decreased the allowances to 24, 16 and 8 per cent of the basic pay.

Reduction in HRA has irked a major section of central government employees, who reside in rented accommodations. A section of the aggrieved employees have blamed the top bureaucracy for the delay in HRA hike. "Naturally, the common central government employees are more affected by the delay in allowance hike. The top bureacrats don't take higher allowances, therefore, they are not interested in the hike," Mishra said.

Apart from the hike in allowances, central government employees have also demanded Centre to provide arrears on the allowances. Since the date of implementation of 7th Pay Commission was fixed as January 1, 2016, employees have demanded the release of arrears on allowances as well.

Although the government provided arrears on basic pay while hiking the salaries on July 1, indications have been made that no arrears would be released on allowances. NJCA has confirmed that the employee unions would launch protest across the nation if the allowances are hiked, without the arrears. "Arrears are unlikely, but protests would be launched if they fail to release (the arrears)," Mishra said.

The date of allowances hike is reported to be April 1. NJCA claims, through its sources, that the government would be implementing the allowance hike from April 1. "It is most likely that the government announces the hike by April 1," Mishra confirmed. 


Read at: India.com

How to claim tax benefit on tuition fees under Section 80C


By Sunil Dhawan, ECONOMICTIMES.COM 

Sending kids to school has an inbuilt tax advantage for the parents as the tuition fee qualifies for tax benefit under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The amount of tax benefit is within the overall limit of the section of Rs 1.5 lakh a year. 

For tax purposes, the fee (amount) reduces the total gross income, and thereby the tax liability. Say, you fall in the highest income slab and pay not only a 30.9 per cent tax rate, but also Rs 80,000 a year as schools fees, the tax saved would amount to Rs 24,720 in that year 

Here's how to get the maximum benefit out of tuition fees

Are all institutions eligible? 
Tuition fees paid at the time of admission or anytime during the financial year to any university, college, school or educational institution based in India qualifies for tax benefit. 

What kind of education? 
It has to be a full-time education, including any play school activities, pre-nursery and nursery classes. The institution can be either private or a government sponsored one. 

What is not covered? 
At times, parents have to make payments, other than tuition fees, to the educational institutions. Payments like development fees or donation or capitation fees, etc., are not covered and do not qualify for tax benefit. Also, if you haven't paid the fees on time, the applicable late fee paid will not be eligible. 

Tax benefit for how many children? 
The benefit applies for the fees paid for up to two children. So if a couple has four children, both can claim tax benefit as both have a separate limit of two children each. 

Which parent gets the tax benefit? 
The parent who makes the payment gets the tax advantage. If both parents are working and pay taxes, both can claim individually up to the amount of fees paid. 

If both are working and want to take the benefit under Section 80C for the amount paid by them respectively, they can do so. So if the fee paid is Rs 2 lakh, of which the father has paid Rs 50,000, while the mother has paid Rs 1.5 lakh, both can claim the amount individually as per the payment made by them. 

Conclusion 
As the upper limit for Section 80C tax benefit is Rs 1.5 lakh a year, see how much of that gets exhausted through tuition fees and then decide on further tax savers. While the tax benefit on tuition fees is incidental and helps you to save tax during the early days of your child's education, do not forget to create a long-term investment plan for his higher education. 

Estimate the amount needed for higher studies and create a savings plan towards that goal, preferably through SIPs in 3-5 equity diversified mutual funds scheme. To ensure that the goal is met, do buy adequate life cover, preferably through a pure term insurance plan.

Source : The Economic Times
NFPE                                                                                                NFPE
                        ALL INDIA POSTAL EMPLOYEES UNION
                           (GROUP-C, POSTMAN&MTS , GDS)
                                          CHITTOOR DIVISION

             కాం.పాండురంగా రావు,  NFPE GDS జనరల్ సెక్రెటరీ,న్యూ డిల్లీ         
         ఆధ్వర్యం లో GDS వేతన కమిటీ నివేదిక గురించి అవగాహన సదస్సు

డియర్ కామ్రేడ్,
NFPE  GDS కేంద్ర నాయకులు కాం. పాండురంగ రావు గారు, శుక్రవారం అనగా 24.02.2017   చిత్తూరు విచ్చేయుచున్నారు.  ఈ సందర్బంగా చిత్తూరు  H.O నందు సమావేశం నిర్వహించదలచాము.   7 వ వేతన సవరణ లో బాగంగా సమర్పించిన GDS కమిటీ నివేదిక  పూర్తి వివరాలు, మరియు డిపార్ట్‌మెంట్ ఉద్యోగుల 7 వ వేతన సంఘం తాజా విషయాలను   కేంద్ర నాయకులు వివరించడం జరుగుతుంది.  కావున 24.02.2017 వ తేదీ సాయంత్రం 05.00 గం. లకు చిత్తూరు HO నందు జరుగు అవగాహన సదస్సుకు ప్రతి ఒక్కరూ తప్పక హాజరై  GDS కమిటీ లోని సందేహాలను నివృత్తి చేసుకోవలసినదిగా కోరడమై నది

    R.MOHANAJA REDDY                               S.B.SARDAR                           V .JANAKIRAM CHETTY 
DIVISIONAL SECRETARY                  DIVISIONAL SECRETARY           DIVISIONAL SECRETARY    
    AIPEU GDS NFPE                                      AIPEU  PIII                                  AIPEU POSTMAN
   CHITTOOR DIVISION                           CHITTOOR DIVISION                  CHITTOOR DIVISION




Tuesday 21 February 2017

Cash withdrawal weekly limit increased to 50,000

From:


Date: 20 February 2017 at 09:55

Subject: Important : Cash withdrawal weekly limit increased to 50,000

Dear SPOC,
Weekly cash withdrawal limit is increased to 50,000

This is for favour of information

Thanks & regards,
CEPT - FSI Team

Difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 Account 


What is the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 Account in NPS? Many Government employees or others subscribed to NPS. However, the majority of them do not know what is the meaning and difference of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Accounts of NPS.

Let us first brief about NPS.

  • NPS or New Pension Scheme is a retirement product launched by Government of India. It is managed by PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority). This product helps you to create retirement corpus.
  • Any citizen of India (whether resident or NRI) can invest in this scheme. The age of the subscriber must be within 18-60 years of age. However, an individual of unsound mind or existing members of NPS are not allowed to open new account.
  • Therefore, an individual can open only ONE NPS account.

How to open NPS Account?

  • You have to fill the application form and provide the relevant KYC documents at your nearest POP-PS (You will find the list in PFRDA portal).
  • However, if you want to open new Tier 2 account, then the process is different. You have to approach POP-PS with copy of PRAN (Permanent Retirement Account Number) and Tier 2 activation form.
  • The subscriber has to make the first contribution while opening the account. Minimum contribution for Tier 1 is Rs.500 and Rs.1, 000 for Tier 2.
  • Note-Now you can open NPS account online and also contribution can be made it online through eNPS portal. Refer my latest post on the same “eNPS – How open and invest in NPS account online?“.

What are the investment choices?

  • Asset Class E-Invests predominantly in the equity market. You may say high return and high risk.
  • Asset Class C-Invests in fixed income instruments other than Government Securities. Risk is medium in this category.
  • Asset Class G-Invests in Government Securities. So lower risk and lower return.
  • Along with that, you have two different options to choose regarding allocation.
  • Active Choice-You have the option to choose your investment among E, C or G asset classes. However, if you opted for E asset class, then the maximum equity exposure is 50% only.
  • Auto Choice-If you don’t want to take active part in switching asset class, then PFRDA will do it according to your age. It is predefined.
  • You can change both scheme preference and investment choices at any point of time. But it is allowed only once in a year.
  • Please remember that there is no ASSURED RETURN from NPS.
  • Your retirement fund will be managed by fund managers appointed by PFRDA. Currently there are six fund managers. They are as below.
  • ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Limited, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited, Reliance Capital Pension Fund Limited, SBI Pension Funds Limited, UTI Retirement Solutions Limited, and Annuity Service Provider (ASP).
  • You can change your fund manager at any point of time. This change is allowed only one time in a year.
  • Along with that, PFRDA tied with IRDA approved Life Insurance companies to pay the pension once the subscriber reaches 60 years of age. They are as below.
  • Life Insurance Corporation of India, SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd., ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Reliance Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Following conditions apply:

  • Subscriber is not covered under employer assisted retirement benefit scheme and also not covered by social security schemes under any of the following laws:
  • Employee Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952
  • The Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1948
  • The Seamen’s Provident Fund Act, 1966
  • The Assam Tea Plantation Provident Fund and Pension Fund Scheme Act, 1955
  • The Jammu & Kashmir Employee Provident Fund Act, 1961
  • Subscriber contribution in NPS is minimum Rs. 1000 and maximum Rs.12000 per annum, for both Tier1 and Tier II taken together, provided subscriber makes minimum contribution of Rs.1000 per annum to his Tier 1 account
  • Based on the limitations mentioned above, I think most people reading this blog will be ineligible.

How to exit from NPS?

Once you attain the age of 60 years, you can withdraw up to 60% of accumulation as lump sum and rest 40% will be converted into pension.
If you want to exit from NPS before 60 years of age, then you are allowed to withdraw only 20% accumulated amount. You have to buy a pension product with that 80% fund.
However, in case the death of the subscriber, a nominee is allowed to withdraw 100% of NPS.
I wrote a post on recent changes about new withdrawal of exit rules of NPS. Refer below post.
National Pension System (NPS)-New Partial Withdrawal and Exit Rules
This is the brief about NPS.
Let us come back to the main purpose of this post. I tried to put it the difference in below image.

Note-

-As per recent PFRDA circular dated 8th August, 2016, the minimum contribution in Tier 1 Account is now reduced to Rs.1,000 a year. There will be no minimum investment limit for Tier 2 account (Earlier, it was Rs.250). Also you no need to maintain the minimum balance in Tier 2 account (Earlier, it was Rs.2,ooo).

-From Budget 2016, the 40% withdrawal at the time of your retirement from NPS will be tax-free. Rest 60% of the corpus will be treated taxable income as per old rules. Hope this above table cleared your doubts. 
Conclusion-You notice that when it comes to taxation, NPS is one of the worst products. Everybody concentrating on the tax benefits of NPS while investing. However, they forget the tax issues at retirement or at withdrawal. Along with that, liquidity is an issue with NPS. For Government employees and corporate employees, no option but to invest.