Karnataka sets up helpline after bribe complaints
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The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
GST notices to traders: A fiasco that could have been avoided with feet on ground
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice fiasco in Karnataka, which ended with the intervention of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, could have been avoided with proper planning and feet on ground by Commercial Tax officers, senior department officials feel. Before issuing notices to traders, a spot visit to assess the nature of business should have been undertaken by the officials, multiple officials in the department said. Nature of business 'When traders were issued notices, officials did not know the nature of businesses in a large number of cases. They had not visited the business premises to conduct a survey. It was a thoughtless and faceless exercise, which embarrassed the government,' a senior official explained. 'There was a lack of clarity and specificity with respect to the nature of supply — whether it was goods or services.' Businesses with a turnover in trade of goods above ₹40 lakh and of services above ₹20 lakh have to be registered under the GST. As many as 18,000 notices have been issued across the State based on the information received by the Service Analysis Wing (SAW) after it sought details from the UPI platforms. Officials said that while details were received from three platforms, transactions in many others had not been received, which meant the exercise was not comprehensive. Goods not under GST As a result, another official pointed out, notices ended up being issued to vendors selling milk, vegetables, flowers, meat, and fruits, all of which are exempted goods under the GST. 'The notices scared the traders with a big tax demand and were issued on mere assumptions, without ascertaining the nature of receipts. Attempts were not made to ascertain whether receipts actually pertain to business transactions, or whether they were unrelated to business, or related to exempted goods.' The notices, if questioned in the High Court, could be struck down, sources said. Higher targets? Multiple officials with whom The Hindu spoke also referred to a very 'high and unreasonable' target set by the State government for the GST collections, which prompted the department to look towards newer sources of revenue or widen the tax base. By tapping the UPI net, the government was expecting at least ₹1,000 crore to ₹1,500 crore revenue, sources said. While the department collected about ₹1.02 lakh crore during 2024-2025, the government has set a target of ₹1.20 lakh crore for 2025-2026. 'Normally, the revision of the target is based on the GDP growth. Targets in the past were increased, which were double the rate of growth of the State's GDP. This time, the target has been raised by 17%, which we believe is very difficult to attain,' another senior official said. Concurring with his view, an officer said, 'The last fiscal had ₹1.02 lakh crore, which included about ₹6,000 crore from the IGST input tax credit reversal, which had not been claimed at all. This will drop down to about ₹1,000 crore this year. If this is considered, the revenue target has been increased by over 20%.'
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
PlayStore billing policy: Google appeals NCLAT order in Supreme Court
Google approached the Supreme Court on July 21 Almost three years after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) held that Google leveraged its dominance in the Android ecosystem, and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) partially upheld the order later, the matter has now reached the Supreme Court with the US technology giant challenging the appellate tribunal's ruling. Google approached the Supreme Court on July 21. On March 28 this year, NCLAT partially upheld the CCI ruling against Google for misuse of its dominant position by imposing unfair Play Store policies and promoting its own payments app. The appellate tribunal had said that Google shall allow, and not restrict app developers from using any third party billing services; shall not impose any anti-steering provisions on app developers or restrict them from communicating with their users to promote their apps; and shall not discriminate against other apps facilitating payment through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India vis-à-vis its own UPI app, in any manner. The NCLAT, however, overruled several of the more stringent behavioural remedies imposed on Google by the CCI. The CCI had, in its ruling, asked Google to allow third-party app stores within the Play Store, uninstallation of pre-installed apps, and side-loading of apps. In May this year, NCLAT reinstated two CCI directions that obligated Google to disclose data policies and remove advantages for Google Play Billing System (GPBS). In the petition moved now in the apex court, Google has challenged the changes approved by the NCLAT in May.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Doctor meets man on gay date in Varanasi, loses ₹8 lakh to nude pics blackmail
A 57-year-old doctor's meeting with a man at a hotel in Varanasi turned into an extortion ordeal after the latter allegedly clicked nude photos of him and demanded money. 57-year-old doctor blackmailed in Varanasi after hotel meet; nude photos used for extortion.(Representational image/Unsplash) The doctor was allegedly blackmailed into paying ₹8 lakh to the accused, who later fled the spot. A case has been registered, and police are on the lookout for the accused, identified as Vikas, NDTV reported. The doctor, who was staying at a hotel in Varanasi last Sunday, connected with Vikas on a gay dating app. He shared his phone number and hotel address with him and also asked him to bring beer bottles. Vikas arrived at the hotel around 10 pm with beer and snacks, the complaint states. After spending some time together, Vikas told the doctor, 'Such actions don't suit you at this age. You are in Shiv Nagri, don't do all this,' the report quoted the complaint as saying. He then allegedly clicked the doctor's nude photos and slapped him several times, NDTV quoted the police complaint as stating these details. Vikas is accused of breaking a glass, pointing it at the doctor, and threatening to leak the nude photographs if he wasn't paid. He also claimed to have political connections and links with anti-social elements who could get the doctor murdered. Out of fear, the doctor used UPI and withdrew cash from an ATM to give Vikas a total of ₹8 lakh that night and the next morning. Assistant commissioner of police Ishant Soni confirmed that the doctor, in his complaint, said he had been blackmailed by a man he met on a gay dating app. 'We have registered a case and action will be taken,' the officer said. The FIR has been registered under Section 308 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with extortion, NDTV quoted the officer as saying.
