1. Have Rs 51, you can now shop on Myntra
What's the news?
Myntra is offering EMIs of as little as 51 a month for purchases of clothes, becoming the first online fashion retailer to broaden its appeal to consumers in the extremely competitive sector.
Equated monthly installments, which are typically offered on credit card purchases of high-value items, are now available for some products sold on Myntra that are worth Rs 1,300 or even less.
How will this work?
Myntra has tied up with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Citi, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Amex, HSBC and others, which will charge 13% to 15% interest on credit card purchases of selected items that can be paid over three to 24 months.
However, this option is not available on Jabong, the Gurgaon-based rival acquired by Myntra.
2. Kalaari Capital looks to sell its stake in Snapdeal
What's the news?
Venture capital firm Kalaari Capital, one of the early and most influential investors in Snapdeal, has held conversations to sell its stake to the company’s promoters, in entirety or partially.
The discussions have been at a very preliminary stage, and there is no guarantee yet that a deal will be struck.
According to sources, the venture capital firm could sell its stake in Snapdeal for Rs 40-50 crore, signalling a massive haircut from its overall investment of about Rs 135 crore in the company.
What does this mean for the promoters?
A potential stake sale could see Snapdeal founders, Kunal Bahal and Rohit Bansal, tighten their grip on the company, almost a year after fighting off rival Flipkart, as well as its own investor SoftBank Group and wrestling back control of the online marketplace.
Kalaari Capital is also believed to have held discussions with other investors for the sale of its shares in the company.
3. SC order diktat hits payment firms KYC drive
What's the news?
The Supreme Court’s decision to indefinitely push Aadhaar linking of bank accounts and telecom services is a setback for mobile wallet companies such as Paytm and MobiKwik that are trying to complete mandatory KYC (know your customer) verification of their customer base.
Prepaid payment issuers, or PPIs, were relying heavily on the Aadhaar interface to accomplish KYC of their customer base. But in the wake of the Supreme Court’s judgement on Tuesday, consumers may hesitate to share biometric details with these companies, industry insiders said.
What are the companies doing now?
Most wallet companies plan to go ahead with Aadhaar verification process as there has been no instruction to stop it even as they open up their systems to various physical documents such as driving licence and PAN (permanent account number) card.
4. R&D centre setup in India, not as lucrative?
What's the news?
Many US firms have begun to review their plans to set up or expand R&D centres in India, in what industry experts see as a fallout of the Trump administration’s new additional tax on companies that move work to offshore subsidiaries.
Why is this happening?
The Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) that became effective in January is part of US President Donald Trump’s plan to protect local jobs and prevent them from moving offshore. The BEAT rate is 5% in 2018, and will double to 10% in 2019.
The US has also reduced the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%, a move which is aimed at giving companies more headroom to invest and hire more people in the US.
The new taxes are the latest blow to the Indian IT industry struggling with technology shifts — budget cuts for traditional outsourcing in favour of emerging areas in digital and cloud, automation and rising protectionism in its main markets such as the US and UK, which contribute four out of five dollars they earn.
The move could affect India’s position as a research and development (R&D) hub for global corporations in the long run.
What's the news?
Myntra is offering EMIs of as little as 51 a month for purchases of clothes, becoming the first online fashion retailer to broaden its appeal to consumers in the extremely competitive sector.
Equated monthly installments, which are typically offered on credit card purchases of high-value items, are now available for some products sold on Myntra that are worth Rs 1,300 or even less.
How will this work?
Myntra has tied up with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Citi, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Amex, HSBC and others, which will charge 13% to 15% interest on credit card purchases of selected items that can be paid over three to 24 months.
However, this option is not available on Jabong, the Gurgaon-based rival acquired by Myntra.
2. Kalaari Capital looks to sell its stake in Snapdeal
What's the news?
Venture capital firm Kalaari Capital, one of the early and most influential investors in Snapdeal, has held conversations to sell its stake to the company’s promoters, in entirety or partially.
The discussions have been at a very preliminary stage, and there is no guarantee yet that a deal will be struck.
According to sources, the venture capital firm could sell its stake in Snapdeal for Rs 40-50 crore, signalling a massive haircut from its overall investment of about Rs 135 crore in the company.
What does this mean for the promoters?
A potential stake sale could see Snapdeal founders, Kunal Bahal and Rohit Bansal, tighten their grip on the company, almost a year after fighting off rival Flipkart, as well as its own investor SoftBank Group and wrestling back control of the online marketplace.
Kalaari Capital is also believed to have held discussions with other investors for the sale of its shares in the company.
3. SC order diktat hits payment firms KYC drive
What's the news?
The Supreme Court’s decision to indefinitely push Aadhaar linking of bank accounts and telecom services is a setback for mobile wallet companies such as Paytm and MobiKwik that are trying to complete mandatory KYC (know your customer) verification of their customer base.
Prepaid payment issuers, or PPIs, were relying heavily on the Aadhaar interface to accomplish KYC of their customer base. But in the wake of the Supreme Court’s judgement on Tuesday, consumers may hesitate to share biometric details with these companies, industry insiders said.
What are the companies doing now?
Most wallet companies plan to go ahead with Aadhaar verification process as there has been no instruction to stop it even as they open up their systems to various physical documents such as driving licence and PAN (permanent account number) card.
4. R&D centre setup in India, not as lucrative?
What's the news?
Many US firms have begun to review their plans to set up or expand R&D centres in India, in what industry experts see as a fallout of the Trump administration’s new additional tax on companies that move work to offshore subsidiaries.
Why is this happening?
The Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) that became effective in January is part of US President Donald Trump’s plan to protect local jobs and prevent them from moving offshore. The BEAT rate is 5% in 2018, and will double to 10% in 2019.
The US has also reduced the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%, a move which is aimed at giving companies more headroom to invest and hire more people in the US.
The new taxes are the latest blow to the Indian IT industry struggling with technology shifts — budget cuts for traditional outsourcing in favour of emerging areas in digital and cloud, automation and rising protectionism in its main markets such as the US and UK, which contribute four out of five dollars they earn.
The move could affect India’s position as a research and development (R&D) hub for global corporations in the long run.