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Deal proposes share swap of 1:10; two early investors seek $100 m each Biswarup Gooptu & Madhav Chanchani New Delhi | Bengaluru: Soft- Bank, the largest shareholder in Snapdeal, held boardroom discus- sions on the proposed sale of the online marketplace to rival Flip- kart on Tuesday, according to two people aware of the development. According to the terms proposed by the Japanese media and tele- com conglomerate, Snapdeal sha- reholders will get one share of Flipkart for every ten they own, said the people cited above. Early investors in Snapdeal — Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Part- ners — have also asked for about $100 million each from the sale, the sources said. The proposed sale could see SoftBank pick up a 20% stake in the country’s largest ecom- merce company for about $1.5 billion, in the process buying out $500 million to $1 billion worth of Tiger Global’s hol- ding in Flipkart, according to two people aware of the matter. Alibaba-backed Paytm E-com- merce has also discussed a poten- tial acquisition of Snapdeal, but the valuation offered was much lower than that offered by Flip- kart, added another source. The deal, if completed, will mark the biggest acquisition in the Indi- an ecommerce industry and also redefine contours of the Indian online retail market where US’ Amazon and China’s Alibaba are also major players. “A final deci- sion on the sale is yet to be taken,” the person said. The meeting signals easing of tensions between Kalaari and Nexus, and SoftBank, said one of the sources mentioned above. Governance rights Also Discussed21 SoftBank Moots Snapdeal Sale to Flipkart in Meet Popular instant messaging app WhatsApp is exploring the unified payments interface (UPI) among other payment modes to launch its payment solution in India.6 WhatsApp Exploring UPI Option WEDNESDAY, 5 APRIL 2017 BRANDS: CREATING DESIRE 5 SPORTS: THE GREAT GAMES 22 AROUND THE WORLD19 BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD. T HE E CONOMIC T IMES WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM Maruti Suzuki Now the Lord of All it Surveys Trump Signs Repeal of US Broadband Privacy Rules Tenth Edition of IPL Gets Underway Today MUMBAI | 22 + 4 PAGES OF BRAND EQUITY + 4 PAGES OF ET PANACHE | . `4.00 OR . `7.00 ALONG WITH THE TIMES OF INDIA Scorching Heat Ensures Bumper Sales for Consumer Goods in March The heat wave across several parts of the country has come to the rescue of air-conditioner, re- frigerator, ice cream and soft drink makers which were otherwise reeling under severe consumer fatigue for at least a couple of quarters. Brands: Creating Desire5 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Indian IT Needs New Spark After Losing Visa Power in Key Markets Indian IT companies will have to seek new ways of doing business as governments in key markets such as the US, UK and Singapore place a slew of restrictions on travel and immigration of engine- ers that are disrupting the outsourcing model. Disruption: Startups & Tech6 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Reliance Capital in Talks with Chinese Firms to Exit Prime Focus Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital has initiated talks with likely Chinese strategic buyers such as Dalian Wanda Group, TenCent, or even Alibaba to sell its entire 35.1% stake in Prime Focus, the world's largest integrated media services compa- ny, specialising in visual effects, animation and post production services for films and television. Companies: Pursuit of Profit 16 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ONGC Videsh may Invest over $3 B to Develop Iran’s Farzad B Gas Block ONGC Videsh has revised its proposal to develop Iran’s Farzad B gas block and could invest over $3 billion on the project. OVL sees output from the asset rising to 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of gas in five years from the launch of the project. Economy: Macro, Micro & More 21 Inside story Is Murthy right in questioning Infosys' policy of paying top dollar to retain top talent? www.economictimes.com Do you think the US job market is under threat from low-skilled foreign workers? TODAY’S QUESTION 65% YES 32% NO 3% CAN’T SAY Payments through the system jump 20% to . `2,000 cr in March over Jan transactions is driven majorly by the government-promoted BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) and non-bank payment apps such as PhonePe and Tru- pay, industry experts say. Merchant Transactions may Rise21 Pratik.Bhakta @timesgroup.com Mumbai: Digital payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the mobile- based national payment system, continue to surge even after the end of demonetisation-induced cash shortage, latest data from Reserve Bank of India shows. UPI-based transactions jump- ed almost 20% to . `2,000 crore in March, up from . `1,660 crore in January. The figures boost Prime Minister Narendra Mo- di’s agenda of ending black money through digital pay- ments and the penetration of formal finance in the hinter- land of the country. “We already have 44 banks on UPI, of which 35 have their own applications available on the (Google) Play Store; BHIM is seeing around 80,000 transac- tions per day; and we are regis- tering almost 2 lakh transac- tions on the entire UPI rail- road,” said AP Hota, managing director at National Payments Corporation of India, the body that runs the UPI platform and BHIM app. The growth in UPI-based BOOST FOR MODI’S VISION UPI-BASED TRANSACTIONS MARCH 1970 49 FEBRUARY 1900 42 JANUARY 1660 42 Value (` cr) Volume (lakh) UPI for merchant payments through PoS terminals & QR code generated through BharatQR LATEST ADDITIONS TO UPI STABLE Surging Ahead FEATURES No of transactions on BHIM: 80,000 per day Upper limit on UPI transfers: `1 lakh No of banks live on UPI: 44 No of bank-led applications: 35 Avg value of transactions: `4,000 Sugata.Ghosh@timesgroup.com Mumbai: For as long as anyone can remember, producing fake property rent receipt, often from parents and relatives, has been an easy way to lower tax burden. Such cavalier disregard for tax rule was overlooked by most em- ployers as well as taxman, who possibly felt it was a minor trans- gression. Perhaps, not anymore. The income tax department now has good reason to insist on proof from the tax payer showing that he is indeed a genuine tenant, stay- ing in the property in question. A salaried employee receiving ‘house rent allowance’ from the employer could escape paying tax on at least 60% of this amount by generating sham rent receipt. However, according to a recent tribunal ruling, the assessing of- ficer can now demand proof — such as leave and licence agree- ment, letter to the housing co-op- erative society informing about the tenancy, electricity bill, water bill etc. — in allowing a lower tax- able income as computed by a sal- aried employee. Precedent Set by ITAT Mumbai21 Rent Receipts Under I-T Lens Lease deed, power bill etc may be needed for claiming HRA rebate The Yogi Adityanath gov- ernment in UP, in its first Cabinet meeting on Tues- day, decided to waive agrar- ian loans worth . `36,359 crore of nearly 87 lakh small and marginal farmers. The Centre would not help the state fund this massive loan waiver, reports Aman Sharma. The one “condition” in the decision, as per the UP government, is that loan of only up to . ` 1 lakh of each such farmer will be waived . In its election manifesto, BJP had promised to waive entire farm loans of small and marginal farmers. FULL REPORT PAGE 2 UP to Waive . `36,359 cr of Farm Loans Liquor vendors, suppliers, bar owners and tip- plers are either in a wait-and- watch mode or hurriedly planning remedial action as states and the Centre strug- gle to find ways to comply with the SC order that banned sale of liquor within 500 metres of highways.8 Ban-hit Liquor Vendors Plan Remedial Action Ready To Load The Cart? Deal proposes 1 Flipkart stock for every 10 Snapdeal shares Jasper board has not taken a decision on the proposed sale SoftBank holds 33% in Snapdeal while Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners own about 8% & 10%, respectively Cofounders Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal together own about 6.5% in the company Kalaari & Nexus may earn a payout of $100 million each from the buyout Proposed sale could see SoftBank pick up a 20% stake in Flipkart for about $1.5 b Alibaba- backed Paytm Ecommerce also has held talks to acquire Snapdeal The Tax Axe Many availing HRA submit fake rent receipt to evade tax A tax tribunal has struck down an exemption claim Assessing officer may cross-check address from ITR form Tax officers may now deny such claim NITI AAYOG BATS FOR LOWER MDR 17 Many expatriates would need to have an Aadhaar number after the Finance Act, 2017—effective July 1— made it manda- tory to enrol for Aadhaar in order to file a return in India.13 Aadhaar Requirement for Expats The Right Click: UPI Leads Boom in Digital India
