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Prime Minister Narendra <keyword id="19899684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi" source="keywords">Modi</keyword> on Friday said the government is making necessary <keyword id="20861068" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="policy-changes" source="keywords">policy changes</keyword>, like removal of <keyword id="20279287" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Angel-Tax" source="keywords">Angel Tax</keyword>, to promote the <keyword id="19945816" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="fintech" source="keywords">fintech</keyword> sector, even as he asked the <keyword id="19962476" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="regulators" source="keywords">regulators</keyword> to take additional measures to check cyber frauds which can have a crippling impact on startups. Lauding the fintechs for democratising <keyword id="19976433" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-services" source="keywords">financial services</keyword>, Modi said the sector, which has attracted USD 31-billion investment in the last 10 years, has played a key role in denting the parallel economy. The Prime Minister was addressing the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2024, jointly organised by the Payments Council of India, the National Payments Corporation of India and the Fintech Convergence Council. He said the domestic economy and the capital market are in a celebratory mood at a time when the nation is also going through a festive period. Modi underlined that the government is making all necessary changes on the policy level to assist the fintech sector and gave examples of doing away with Angel Tax, allocating Rs 1 lakh crore to encourage research and innovation in the country and implementing the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. Broadly, fintech refers to entities utilising technologies for providing financial services. Expressing the need to put an end to <keyword id="19901142" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyber-fraud" source="keywords">cyber fraud</keyword>, he urged the regulators to take major initiatives to boost digital literacy. It is equally important to ensure cyber fraud does not come in the way of the growth of fintech and startups in the country, Modi said. In his speech, the Prime Minister also cautioned about the dangers of a parallel economy for the world. Fintech, he said, has played an impactful role in denting such a system and credited the emergence of transparency. He said that digital technology has introduced transparency in India and gave the example of the implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer used in hundreds of government schemes that has prevented leakages in the system. "Today, people can see the benefits of aligning with the formal banking system," he said. Modi further said the trinity of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile have broken down the mentality of 'Cash is King' and made way for approximately half of the <keyword id="20004116" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-transactions" source="keywords">digital transactions</keyword> in the world taking place in India. "India's <keyword id="19900911" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="upi" source="keywords">UPI</keyword> has become a major example of fintech in the world," he said, adding that it has enabled 24X7 banking services in every village and city in all weather conditions. Underlining the role of fintech in democratising financial services, the Prime Minister gave examples of readily available loans, credit cards, investments and insurance. He said that fintech has made access to credit easy and inclusive, and gave the example of PM SVANidhi scheme that has enabled street vendors to avail collateral-free loans and further expand their business with the help of digital transactions. "Sustainable <keyword id="19900794" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-growth" source="keywords">economic growth</keyword> is India's priority today," he said and emphasised that the government is creating robust, transparent and efficient systems to strengthen financial markets with advanced technologies and regulatory frameworks. About 800 speakers, including policymakers, regulators, senior bankers, industry captains, and academicians, from India and other countries are participating in the fest.

Removed Angel Tax, taking policy measures to promote fintech sector: PM Modi

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The CEO of European ride-hailing app Bolt is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-requiring-return-to-office-rto-mandate">mandating workers return to the office</a> 12 days a month.</li><li>In a memo, Markus Villig called it a "disgrace" that fewer than half of staff went in more than 2 days a week.</li></ul>The CEO of European mobility app Bolt didn't mince words earlier this month when <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-workers-need-pay-raise-return-to-office-survey-2024-10">calling workers back to the office</a>.Bolt is an Uber competitor that offers services including ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, and e-scooter rentals in its app. Starting in January, Bolt will require all of its employees to work from the office at least 12 days a month, or roughly 3 a week, the company confirmed to Business Insider.CEO Markus Villig wrote in a memo to staff that the company had "seen too much complacency" in where employees work in recent years and that they had a choice to either "restart our ambitious culture to compete in the highest league" or "fall into mediocrity.""We are too scattered, people feel disconnected, attrition is too high, and our offices lie empty," Villig wrote. "I find it a disgrace to our culture that less than 50% of employees come to the office +2 days per week."He referenced tech industry giants like Amazon, Tesla, and Apple, which have implemented varying forms of return-to-office mandates.Amazon recently announced <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rto-faq-document-spells-out-new-rule-2024-9">corporate employees will have to work in the office 5 days a week</a> starting in January. Tesla CEO <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-wfh">Elon Musk has called remote work "morally wrong."</a> Apple's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-still-trying-hybrid-rto-work-program-schedule-no-answers-2023-9">hybrid pilot program</a> requires employees to work from the office three days a week.Bolt's CEO also criticized the idea of people working remotely from vacation destinations."We will stop the insanity of people working remotely from places like Bali," he said. "That is a vacation not what we hired them to do."A Bolt spokesperson confirmed the memo was sent to employees."We believe that in-person collaboration drives innovation and performance, and our existing policy advises employees to work from a Bolt office for 2-3 days a week," a Bolt spokesperson said. "Starting from 1 January, this policy will be formalised with employees being asked to work from a Bolt office 12 days per month. We continue to listen to our colleagues and remain committed to fostering a culture that values engagement and innovation, while empowering people to work flexibly and effectively."In his memo, Villig said the company saw five benefits from in-person work: Raising the performance bar, improved collaboration, better relationships between team members and other teams at the company, better information flow and idea generation, and improved mental well-being.Bolt is based in Tallinn, Estonia, and operates in more than 45 countries. In 2022, Bolt said it'd raised 628 million euros in a round of funding led by Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management, with the investment valuing Bolt at 7.4 billion euros.The company is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/uber-rival-bolt-seeks-turn-profitable-next-year-ipo-2025-2023-05-08/#:~:text=Bolt%2C%20run%20by%2029%2Dyear,market%20conditions%20at%20that%20time.">reportedly eyeing an IPO</a> in 2025.<h2 id="e4a334f8-f346-42d3-b975-f21d50b08845">Read Bolt CEO's full memo to staff:</h2>Following up from the All-hands on Tuesday I'll explain my thinking about the new Return to Office &amp; Location policy and your role as a manager in supporting this transition.The summary is that I deeply believe that we work better in person, not remotely.The longer version is that we have a choice to make as a company. Either we restart our ambitious culture to compete in the highest league or we fall into mediocrity. Even the largest companies from Amazon to Tesla to Apple realise that in order to stay at the top they have to retain an intense culture and have got people back to office 3-5 days a week. We are a tiny company in comparison and to ever reach that scale we have to work harder and innovate more than them.We have seen too much complacency in the last few years on how we recruit, where people live and when and where people work. We are too scattered, people feel disconnected, attrition is too high, and our offices lie empty. I find it a disgrace to our culture that less than 50% of employees come to the office +2 days per week.We will return to being a high performance organisation from 1st of January:Mandatory 12 days a month in office for all employees.Min 2 days a week. Team leaders have the authority to do more – many sales teams do 5 already.We have invested millions into having fantastic offices already, but in sites with lack of space we will set designated days per team to divide nicely.Relative to the top tech companies we believe this is generous and allows plenty of flexibility to employees.We will stop the insanity of people working remotely from places like Bali. That is a vacation not what we hired them to do.Reducing the number of sites to 2 for global roles.By default every department will have 2 hubs – Tallinn first and by default London secondary.Some large departments like tech retain more. If you have questions, ask your department head.In order for people to get the most value of being in office their team needs to be there. Some departments have scattered teams and we will consolidate that.To be clear this refers to global roles, not local or regional.There are 5 benefits to working in person:Raise the performance bar. We see a strong correlation between office attendance vs performance and engagement.Improve collaboration. Having meetings in person is more effective than video calls.Improve relationships in and between teams. Interacting with people in person is better for solving conflict and building positive relations. Video calls are transactional, while having coffee or lunch together is infinitely better for relationship building.Better information flow and idea generation. Having informal chats in the office is impossible to replicate remotely.Improve mental wellbeing. Having positive in person interactions is a huge benefit for stress.As managers I ask you to help me with this:Sell this message to your teams.Lead by example by being present in the office more often starting from next week.Create an environment where your teams want to come into the office. It should be engaging and fun to work in person, not a chore.Monitor and manage poor attendance. We are absolutely fine if some people decide this is not for them, as the cultural impact far outweighs it.The culture at Bolt is unique and we need to work every day to retain it. I cannot do that alone – we all have to take accountability for making this a fantastic place to work, where people come to do the best work of their lives.@nick.walker and his team is preparing the FAQ and other details to be shared to you on Monday and we plan the internal comms after that. Go badgers!

Bolt CEO changes RTO policy to 'stop the insanity of people working remotely from places like Bali.' Read the memo.

X (formerly Twitter) is experiencing its largest user exodus since <keyword id="6355315" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword> took over in 2022. The tipping point is a perfect storm of political controversy, privacy fears, and discontent with the platform’s new policies, culminating in a dramatic shift of users to alternative platforms like <keyword id="412371" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bluesky" source="Orion">Bluesky</keyword> and <keyword id="1163500" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="threads" source="Orion">Threads</keyword>. Here’s a breakdown of the recent changes and why they’ve left users saying goodbye to X. <h2>Political backlash</h2>The day after the U.S. presidential election on November 6, X saw over 115,000 account deactivations — the most since Musk's acquisition. Many users were disillusioned by Musk's perceived alignment with newly elected President Donald Trump. Musk's vocal support for Trump during his campaign, coupled with his attendance at Republican rallies, alienated users who once trusted X as a politically neutral platform. One user, Kara Wurtz, said the election was the “final straw.” After eight years on the platform, the finance director from St. Louis decided that X was no longer delivering the content she valued. “Every time I opened it, it would throw things at me that put me in a bad mood,” she said. The political fallout didn’t just affect individuals. Prominent organisations and brands, including The Guardian and former CNN anchor Don Lemon, have also bid farewell to the platform. <h2>New terms of service spark outrage</h2>On November 15, X's updated terms of service came into effect, granting the platform a sweeping global licence to use user-generated content. This includes using posts, photos, and creative works to train artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models. The backlash was immediate: <ul><li>Privacy Concerns: By continuing to use X, users implicitly agree to have their data — personal photos, creative work, and more — used for AI training. Artists and creators fear their intellectual property could be exploited to develop AI tools that might one day replace human creativity.</li><li>Legal Implications: Disputes over the new terms will be handled in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, home to Judge Reed O'Connor, a Tesla investor. This has raised questions about potential bias in legal proceedings related to the platform.</li></ul>Alex Fink, CEO of the AI-powered platform Otherweb, criticised X’s lack of transparency, stating, “Unlike other platforms with vague licensing terms, X removes any ambiguity about its intentions.” <h2>Changes to blocking and safety settings</h2>Safety concerns have also escalated due to alterations in X’s block feature. Users now allegedly receive notifications that even those they block can still view their posts — though they can’t interact. This tweak is particularly alarming for users who have faced harassment on the platform. Many feel their safety is compromised, prompting them to seek refuge in safer alternatives like Bluesky, which saw a surge of 500,000 new users in just one day following the policy updates. Initially developed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky offers customizable feeds and decentralised control, which many find refreshing. With over 16 million users (and counting), it’s quickly becoming the top choice for X refugees. Threads, Instagram’s text-based app, also surpassed 275 million monthly active users by November, with 15 million new sign-ups last month alone. For many, these platforms represent a chance to escape X’s chaos while reclaiming control over their online experience. <h2>Is Fediverse the future?</h2>Experts believe the exodus from X could mark the beginning of a new era of decentralised social networks. Bluesky, built on a protocol that enables interconnected platforms, is part of the "Fediverse," which could allow users to interact seamlessly across different apps. This shift reflects growing dissatisfaction with centralised platforms that control user data, content visibility, and privacy settings. While Musk touts record-breaking engagement on X, the cracks in the platform’s foundation are evident. Critics warn that X could become a training ground for Musk’s xAI venture, leveraging user interactions to fuel lucrative AI models. Whether X can weather this storm remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the days of Twitter’s broad appeal as a space for open, inclusive dialogue seem to be fading fast.

Mass X-odus: What are the controversial changes on X that are driving users away?

The Reserve Bank of India (<keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI" source="keywords">RBI</keyword>) has started its three-day monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday. The meeting will conclude on Thursday, when the RBI will announce its decisions on the <keyword id="20094323" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="repo-rate" source="keywords">repo rate</keyword> and other matters. The repo rate, which has been maintained at 6.5 per cent since it was last increased in February 2023, is widely expected by experts to remain unchanged for the ninth consecutive bi-monthly policy review. Experts highlight that <keyword id="19895000" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="inflation" source="keywords">inflation</keyword> in India remains above the RBI's target range, making it unlikely that the central bank will implement policy cuts until inflation reaches the target of 4 per cent. However, the expert added that the RBI may consider rate cuts in the October meeting. Banking expert Ashutosh Khajuria commented: "Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may continue to hold the policy signalling Repo rate and wait for <keyword id="19979707" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Consumer-Price-Inflation" source="keywords">Consumer Price Inflation</keyword> to decisively fall below 4 per cent, the target rate. For the present, the continuation of the current stance is widely expected. MPC in India may change the stance and rate action by the beginning of the second half of the year in their October meeting at the earliest." The experts also noted that while <keyword id="20196112" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="core-inflation" source="keywords">core inflation</keyword> has been contained and commodity prices, particularly metals, have dropped by 15-20 per cent from their 2024 peak, food inflation remains a concern and needs to be closely monitored to ensure stability in overall CPI numbers. The Managing Director of a major bank, who preferred not to be named, told ANI: "During the last policy meeting we could see some voting in favour of a <keyword id="19920203" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rate-cut" source="keywords">rate cut</keyword>. At the same time, we could see The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on July 11 said it is too early to talk on the interest rate cut due to the uncertain economic environment and inflation remaining close to five per cent. Considering both, our expectation is that the rate cut cycle may start from the next meeting and no change in <keyword id="19950650" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="interest-rates" source="keywords">interest rates</keyword> this time." RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had also emphasised in the last policy briefing that food inflation is still a concern and that the regulator is not in a hurry to make a decision on rate cuts. A recent report by the State Bank of India (SBI) also noted that Consumer Price Inflation in India is expected to remain around 5 per cent for the financial year 2024-25, except for the months of September and October.

Repo rate cut unlikely in ongoing MPC meeting, but RBI may change it during October policy review: Experts

<keyword id="22053621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Insurance-regulator-IRDA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Insurance regulator IRDA" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Insurance regulator IRDA">Insurance regulator IRDA</keyword> has introduced sweeping reforms for various <keyword id="19936531" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="life-insurance" source="keywords">life insurance</keyword> products. In its master circular dated 12th June, 2024, the insurance watchdog laid out a slew of customer-friendly directives for life insurance companies to follow with immediate effect. Read on to know all about how these new rules will impact you : <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Customer information sheet" comment="subhead" text="Customer information sheet"><keyword id="22033784" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="customer-information-sheet" source="keywords">Customer information sheet</keyword></cmsannotation> Going ahead, all life insurance companies will have to mandatorily provide their policyholders with a CIS, or Customer Information Sheet. This will serve to explain to them the basic features of the policy in very simple terms, and will include essential details like sum assured, benefits, policy loan options, free-look period and procedures for making claims and redressing grievances. In addition, benefits payable to the policyholder if they survive the policy tenure (maturity benefits), upon death and surrender of policy should also be clearly spelt out. Along with this, the policyholders are also entitled to a customised illustration of how the policy will benefit them while they are being sold the policy. CIS should also be made available to the policyholder in their local language on request. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Free-look and grace period" comment="subhead" text="Free-look and grace period"><keyword id="22053620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Free-look-and-Grace-Period" source="Orion">Free-look and grace period</keyword></cmsannotation> Policyholders will now have a 30-day window from the day they receive the policy document to review and cancel the policy if they want. If the policy is cancelled within this period, they will be entitled to a full premium refund. Earlier, this period only lasted for 15 days. For grace period, which basically refers to the additional, penalty-free window given to the policyholder to make premium payment post due date to avoid losing coverage, the windows will differ depending on premium payment frequency. If you pay the policy premiums on a monthly basis, you will get a 15-day grace period. For premium payments made on a quarterly/half-yearly or annual basis, the grace period will be of 30 days. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Penalty on violating Ombudsman’s word" comment="subhead" text="Penalty on violating Ombudsman’s word">Penalty on violating Ombudsman’s word</cmsannotation> The insurer is bound to comply with the <keyword id="960887" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Insurance-Ombudsman" source="Orion">Insurance Ombudsman</keyword>’s award within 30 days of receiving the same. In case the same is violated, the insurer will have to pay a penalty of Rs 5,000 per day to the complainant. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Higher value on early policy surrender" comment="subhead" text="Higher value on early policy surrender">Higher value on early policy surrender</cmsannotation> Often, policyholders ended up with a low, negligible amount as refund upon surrendering their insurance policy. This is set to change with <keyword id="21879234" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IRDA" source="keywords">IRDA</keyword>’s latest directives. Now, policyholders will be eligible for <keyword id="885219" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="surrender-value" source="Orion">surrender value</keyword> even if they decide to surrender their policy after just one year. Previously, only 50% of <keyword id="2939473" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="policy-premium" source="Orion">policy premium</keyword> would be refunded, provided the policyholders surrendered their policy between years 4-7 of the policy tenure. Moreover, they would lose the entire premium amount if they surrendered their policy within a year. Customers will also be entitled to higher special surrender value (SSV) from now on. This SSV should be at least equivalent to the expected present one of the these three: <ol><li>Paid up sum assured, or present value of your sum assured after you stop paying premiums</li><li>Paid up future benefits</li><li>Accrued benefits</li></ol>Also, it will be compulsory for life insurers to offer loans to policyholders as per the eligible surrender value of the policy. Says Vivek Jain, Head, Investments, Policybazaar.com, "The provision for higher Surrender Value (SV), calculated at a prevailing 10-year government securities rate with a limited spread, significantly increases the value returned to policyholders in the event of a policy surrender, after the completion of first year. The mandatory facility of policy loans across all life insurance savings products and the allowance of partial withdrawals under pension products will provide vital financial flexibility, which will enable policyholders to meet liquidity needs and specific financial goals. These measures will certainly enhance trust and transparency in the industry." <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Partial withdrawal allowed from pension products" comment="subhead" text="Partial withdrawal allowed from pension products">Partial withdrawal allowed from pension products</cmsannotation> Policyholders will be allowed to make partial withdrawals, provided they have 3 years of continuous coverage under their insurance-cum-pension plan. Also, these withdrawals cannot be more than 25% of the total premiums paid till date. The insurer cannot use this withdrawal towards making any adjustments in the policy's sum assured. However, this withdrawal will only be allowed for specific situations, like funding children’s higher education/marriage, constructing a house, treating critical illnesses, starting a new venture or for skill development purposes.

You Searched For "policy change" and got 5 results

Removed Angel Tax, taking policy measures to promote fintech sector: PM Modi

PTI

Bolt CEO changes RTO policy to 'stop the insanity of people working remotely from places like Bali.' Read the memo.

Sarah Jackson

Mass X-odus: What are the controversial changes on X that are driving users away?

BI India Bureau

Repo rate cut unlikely in ongoing MPC meeting, but RBI may change it during October policy review: Experts

ANI

Here’s how your life insurance plans are set to change

Ira Alok Puranik

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