Penalty Financial News

Financial Intelligence Unit has slapped a penalty of Rs 18.82 crore on one of the world's largest crypto exchange Binance for alleged contravention of the country's anti-money laundering law. The federal agency issued an order Thursday charging the exchange with «dereliction of duty» as a reporting entity, with its operations that of a Virtual Digital Asset Service Provider, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The summary order accessed by PTI said Binance was first issued a notice in December last year since it operated in India and provided services to Indian clients.

Under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, a penalty is provided for failure by a resident taxpayer to furnish or furnishing inaccurate particulars of foreign assets or foreign incomes in the return of income. The penalty is ₹10 lakh, and the only exception is for a foreign bank account whose balance was less than equivalent of ₹5 lakh during the year. The CBDT, in a circular issued in 2015, had clarified that non-disclosure in Schedule FA (Foreign Assets Schedule) of the tax return, of a foreign asset acquired out of disclosed income, would attract the penalty.

₹13 lakh on SBPP Co-operative Bank Limited, Killa Pardi, Gujarat for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on ‘Interest Rate on Deposits’. The penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Tata Steel on Thursday said its subsidiary Tinplate Company of India Limited (TCIL) has received a tax notice, imposing a penalty of about Rs 40 lakhs in connection with a demand order pertaining to the 2016-17 fiscal. «The said demand order is presently pending appeal before the Commissioner of Commercial taxes, Ranchi,» Tata Steel said in a regulatory filing.

tax deducted at source (TDS) while paying house rent, payments to contractors, etc., if the amount exceeds the specified limit. The tax must be deducted within the specified timelines under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Further, the tax deducted must be deposited with the government within the given time frame. If one or both of these were not done by an individual (liable to deduct TDS), then he/she will have to pay a penalty. Apart from deducting and depositing TDS, an individual must also file a TDS return. Failure to do that will result in a penalty as well. Hence, an individual will be liable to pay three types of penalties if:

₹6.00 lakh on The Sarvodaya Sahakari Bank Limited, Modasa, Gujarat for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and advances to directors, relatives and firms /concerns in which they are interested’ read with ‘Loans and advances to directors etc - directors as surety/guarantors - Clarification’, ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)’ and ‘Interest Rate on Deposits - Directions 2016’. The bank had (i) sanctioned credit facilities to relative of one of its directors and also wherein relatives of the directors stood as guarantor (ii) breached inter-bank gross exposure limit, (iii) breached inter-bank counterparty exposure limit, and (iv) not paid interest on matured fixed deposits from the date of maturity till the date of its repayment at the rate applicable to saving deposits or the contracted rate of interest, whichever is lower.

Bengaluru transport department has banned carpooling using mobile application platforms like Quick Ride and others following complaints from taxi drivers, according to a report of The Times of India. Additional commissioner (enforcement) of the transport department, Mallikarjun C, informed TOI that individuals engaging in carpooling through these apps could face serious consequences. Offenders may have their registration certificates (RC) suspended for up to six months and could be fined anywhere from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. The transport department maintains that carpooling apps are in violation of regulations by aggregating private cars that are not authorized for commercial use.

income tax audit report under section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961, has not been extended by the income tax department. If a taxpayer has not submitted the audit report on or before September 30, 2023, they can still do it, albeit by paying a penalty. The Income Tax Act levies a penalty of 0.5% of the total sales/turnover/gross receipts (whichever is applicable) or Rs 1.5 lakh whichever is lower, for late submission of tax audit report. It is important to note that if the income tax return is filed without the submission of an audit report, then it will be considered as a defective ITR.

₹23 lakh (Rupees Twenty Three lakh only) on Saraswat Co-operative Bank Limited, Mumbai for contravention of various provisions Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act), and the directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and advances to directors, their relatives, and firms/concerns in which they are interested’. The Saraswat Co-operative Bank had contravened the provisions of the BR Act and the RBI directions issued thereunder when it renewed a credit facility sanctioned to a borrower company while a director of the bank was holding the position of an independent director in the borrower company, the RBI said.

₹65 lakh on Apollo Tyres for violating norms pertaining to buyback of shares back in 2003 and directed the market regulator to refund the deposited penalty amount within four weeks. The appeal was filed against the Sebi's order passed in November, 2018 imposing a penalty of ₹65 lakh on Apollo Tyres for violation of buyback norms.

Black Money Act, 2015. As per The Times of India report, a Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) levied a penalty of Rs 10 lakh for each year where foreign shares and other assets were not reported in the 'Schedule FA' of the ITR on the individual. An individual is mandatorily required to fill schedule FA of the ITR if they had invested in foreign assets (such as foreign shares, foreign company mutual funds etc.) directly or have held employee stock options (ESOPs) of foreign companies. «Section 43 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 requires a resident individual to provide information of his foreign assets located outside India in the ITR. If he fails to do so the Assessing Officer may levy a straight penalty of Rs 10 lakh on such person.

loans and guidelines on the management of intra-group transactions and exposures. An examination of a risk assessment report showed non-compliance with directions by SBI to the extent that the bank sanctioned a term loan to a corporation in lieu of or to substitute budgetary resources envisaged for certain projects without undertaking due diligence on the viability and bankability of the projects, the RBI said in a statement on Monday. The central bank further said that the repayment or servicing of the loan was made out of budgetary resources and failed to adhere to the intra-group exposure limit.

SBI and Indian Bank, for violation of various regulatory norms.

₹1.30 Crore (Rupees One Crore and Thirty Lakh only) on State Bank of India (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’ and ‘Guidelines on Management of Intra-Group Transactions and Exposures’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI conferred under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 51(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Life Insurance Corporation of India has received an order under the BGST and CGST Act 2017 from Bihar Additional Commissioner State Tax demanding Rs 290 crore goods and service tax along with interest and penalty, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Friday. The company said it intends to file an appeal before the GST Appellate Tribunal and against the said order within prescribed timelines. Detailing the violations, LIC said it has been charged the amount owing to non-reversal of the ITC availed and utilised on the item non-leviable to GST on the portion of the premium received by the corporation from the policyholder. It is also on the non-reversal of the ITC of the portion of the agent’s commission on the item non-leviable to GST on a portion of the premium and the exempted policies. LIC in August reported that its standalone net profit for the quarter ended June 2023 rose multifold to Rs 9,544 crore.

₹6.00 lakh on The Citizens’ Co-operative Bank Ltd., Jammu for non-compliance with the specific directions issued by RBI under ‘Supervisory Action Framework (SAF)’ and directions issued under ‘Exposure norms and Statutory/ Other Restrictions - UCBs’. The bank had sanctioned fresh loans and advances and allowed cash credit facilities to be overdrawn in violation of specific directions issued under SAF, and also breached prudential inter-bank (gross) exposure limit and inter-bank counterparty limit.

₹5.00 lakh on Lalbaug Co-operative Bank Ltd., Vadodara, Gujarat for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)’ and ‘Reserve Bank of India (Co-operative Banks - Interest Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016’. The RBI said the bank had not only breached prudential inter-bank (gross) exposure limit, but also breached prudential inter-bank counter-party exposure limit, and failed to pay interest on overdue recurring and term deposits from the date of maturity till the date of repayment at the applicable rate.

High Court on Friday imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh on the West Bengal government for failing to hand over the investigation from the CID to CBI and ED into alleged irregularities in a women's cooperative society.

Advance tax is a proactive approach to fulfilling your income tax obligations, allowing you to pay your income tax in installments throughout the fiscal year rather than facing a hefty lump sum at the end. The first installment i.e. 15 per cent of the total amount should be paid by 15th June.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed monetary penalties on four cooperative banks on Thursday for rule violations. The banks that have been penalised are the Baramati Sahakari Bank, the Becharaji Nagarik Sahakari Bank, the Waghodia Urban Co-operative Bank, and the Viramgam Mercantile Co-operative Bank, according to the releases. The central bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh each on Baramati Sahakari Bank and Becharaji Nagarik Sahakari Bank, as mentioned in the releases. Moreover, it has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh each on the Waghodia Urban Co-operative Bank and the Viramgam Mercantile Co-operative Bank. Meanwhile, the RBI has penalised Becharaji Nagarik Sahakari Bank as the bank breached prudential inter-bank counter-party exposure limits.

₹2.00 lakh on The Becharaji Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd., Mehsana of Gujarat for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)’. The bank had breached prudential inter-bank counter-party exposure limit.