Custom House Agents licensing rules to be amended
New Delhi: Custom House Agents (CHA) licensing rules are to be amended by the government to streamline operations to boost exports and imports, according to the minister of state for finance, Shripad Naik.

Addressing the Custom House Agents Association, Naik said that the ministry was in the process of building up a consensus for bringing about necessary changes in the CHA Licensing Regulations of 1984. ``My vision is to install a truly faceless, yet humane system, where offices of the exporters, importers, custom house agents and customs department are electronically linked, and exports and imports grow by leaps and bounds,'' he said. Customs department had taken up a conmputerisation drive and launched a new module `Icegate' for registering shipping bills online.
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Four pvt banks can accept indirect taxes
Mumbai: In addition to direct tax collections and pension disbursements, another pie where new age private banks have been permitted to dip their hands into indirect taxes - excise and service tax collections.

Traditionally an area exclusive to state-run banks, the presence of new private sector banks is expected to usher in competition and ensure "all round better service'', possibly denting the share of the market leader, State Bank of India.

The four institution-backed banks - - ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UTI Bank and IDBI Bank - - will commence indirect tax collections in 13 commissionerates on a pilot basis from November 15.
This permission is exclusive to the four institution-backed new private banks, which were permitted to collect direct income-tax, disburse pensions and handle expenditure related functions of all Central Government Ministries/Departments from October 1. These four banks may soon be permitted to gather customs duties, but there are some technical issues to be sorted out with relation to the collection mechanism.

Banks are also in negotiations with various State Governments to collect sales tax. Private banks are enthusiastic about governmental business and say "it's a matter of pride to be recognised by and to be associated with the Government,'' said a senior HDFC Bank official. On the commercial front is the commission paid at Rs 1.18 per Rs 1,000 of turnover, which is quite attractive. Negotiations are under way for increasing the commission fees, but Reserve Bank of India seems to be of the opinion that the present fees are too high and is unlikely to raise the same, said a banker.
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SBI drops deposit rates
Mumbai: State Bank of India has decided to lower its deposit rates by 25 to 50 basis points across maturities with effect from November 10. Interest rates on domestic term deposits with a maturity of 15-45 days have been lowered by 25 basis points to 4 per cent, for 46-179 days 4.50 per cent (5.00 per cent), for 180 days to less than one year 4.75 per cent (5.25 per cent), for one year to less than two years 5 per cent (5.50 per cent), for two years to less than three years 5.75 per cent (5.25 per cent) and for three years and above 5.50 per cent (6 per cent). Interest rates on deposits with a maturity of 7-14 days remain unchanged at 4 per cent.

Deposit rates for senior citizens have also been revised downwards by 50 basis points. Rates on deposits with a maturity of one year to less than two years is 5.50 per cent (6 per cent), for two years to less than three years 5.75 per cent (6.25 per cent), for three years and above 6 per cent (6.50 per cent).
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IndusInd plans 20 more branches
Visakhapatnam: IndusInd Bank is planning to open 20 more branches during the current financial year and the half-yearly net profit of the bank has gone up to Rs 100.87 crore from Rs 42.86 crore during the corresponding period last year.

This was stated by the assistant vice-president of the bank, K.S. Sastry, at a press meet at the Gajuwaka branch near here on Tuesday. He said it translated into an annualised EPS of 9.16 on an equity base of Rs 220 crore. The capital adequacy ratio of the bank stood at 17.55 per cent (15.75 per cent). He said the bank had opened 15 new branches of late and four additional extension counters, taking the total to 56 branches and 12 counters in the country. The bank had set up 32 off-site ATMs during the year, taking the total to 77.
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Monsoon bonanza for farmers from banks
Bangalore: Buoyed by a good monsoon, several State-run banks are stepping up their rural credit disbursement initiatives in Karnataka. Most of the new schemes are floated to trigger farm equipment financing while Canara Bank has signed a pact with Nabard to co-finance the agriculture sector.

State Bank of India has tied up with VST Tractors and Tillers to finance purchase of power tillers. The company would offer a discount of Rs 15,000 to farmers who buy tillers under this scheme and the bank would offer an interest of 10 per cent on the amount financed. Margin money to be brought by the farmer would be five per cent of the cost of the tiller. The repayment period is pegged at nine years with one-year grace. Close to 200 branches of the 310 branches in Karnataka offer agriculture financingof Rs 820 crore.

Recently, Same Deutz-Fahr signed a pact with State Bank of Mysore, wherein the bank would finance 90 per cent of the invoice value of tractors to farmers at 10.5 per cent on reducing balance. It would also extend finance up to 90 per cent on tractor-operated implements such as trailer, cultivator, rotovator, front-end dozer and loaders. Collateral security needed to finance tractor is minimum of four acre of irrigated land or six acre of dry land. As part of this scheme, Same dealers would bear the insurance cost of the tractor.

Canara Bank's joint effort with Nabard aims to finance rural projects with large outlays. Under this arrangement, the institutions will jointly entertain loan proposals for term loans as well as working capital.
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