Petrol and diesel prices continued to rise through the week with the two petroleum products getting dearer by 59 and 58 paise per litre on Saturday. The auto fuel prices have now risen seven days in a row with pump prices of petrol increasing by Rs 3.90 and diesel by Rs 4 per litre since Sunday. All through the week petrol and diesel prices have risen by about 60 paise per litre per day barring Tuesday when the rise was marginally lower at 40 paise per litre. Sources in oil marketing companies said that price rise could continue for few more days as global product prices are firming up with a pick up in demand following opening up of economies across the globe post Covid-19 related lockdown. Even global crude prices have more than doubled from April levels at close to $40 a barrel level. Also, OMCs are catching up on price levels that bring the product prices closer to international benchmark rates. The price freeze of 83 days even with a substantial increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel by the Centre, has increased the price gap resulting in losses on sale of product for OMCs. The increase in retail prices on Saturday has been made under the dynamic pricing system for daily revision of fuel prices which OMCs resumed after over 83 days break during the lockdown period. In the national capital, the retail price of petrol increased by 59 paise and diesel by 58 paise per litre to Rs 75.16 and Rs 73.39 per litre respectively. In other cities, the increase could vary depending on the tax structure on products. IANS had published earlier that daily price revision may begin in June and retail prices of petrol and diesel could go up to Rs 5 a litre in phases. Prices of transportation fuel were last revised under the dynamic pricing policy on March 16 and there were few instances of price hike later only when the respective state governments hiked VAT or cess. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mm-share-price-gains-as-ssangyong-dents-fourth-quarter-profit/articleshow/76338292.cms">Mahindra and Mahindra sees a ₹2,700 crore dent from Ssangyong and other global subsidiaries</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/zero-late-fee-for-those-who-have-nil-tax-liability-says-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-in-gst-meeting/articleshow/76338653.cms">40th GST Council meeting highlights – zero late fee for those who have nil tax liability, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman</a>

Petrol prices hike by 50 paise and diesel by 59 paise - for the seventh day in a row

New Delhi, Mar 6 () With the Supreme Court mandated dues pushing Vodafone Idea to the brink, Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read on Friday met Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss relief options to keep the company afloat.The meeting assumes significance as Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL), where the British telecom giant holds just over 45 per cent stake, is staring at Rs 53,000 crore in unpaid statutory dues, having paid only Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches so far. VIL has said its self assessment pegs AGR liabilities at Rs 21,533 crore, which is just 41 per cent of what the government has estimated.After the over half an hour meeting with Prasad, Read refused to comment on whether the British telecom giant will exit India, saying "no comments".Read also met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier in the day.Telecom companies are desperately waiting for a bailout package from the government after a Supreme Court order put their statutory liabilities at Rs 1.47 lakh crore, and all eyes have been on DoT for the much-needed breather to fix the AGR imbroglio.VIL recently told the government that it would not be able to pay the full dues unless state support is extended to survive the crisis.It had made a strong plea for setting off Rs 8,000 crore of GST credits, a three-year moratorium on payment of the remaining amount which should be staggered over 15 years at a simple interest rate of 6 per cent, drastic cut in licence fee and fixing of a minimum price of calls and data. The intensity of crisis being faced by VIL can be gauged from the fact that Vodafone Idea Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has held multiple rounds discussions at the telecom ministry and finance ministry over last few weeks to look for a solution to keep the telecom operations on track.In December, Birla had said VIL may have to shut if there is no relief on the statutory dues. "If we are not getting anything, then I think it is the end of the story for Vodafone Idea," Birla had said. "It does not make sense to put good money after bad... We will shut shop."Even Vodafone CEO, Read recently made it clear that the situation in India is critical, following the AGR ruling of the Supreme Court. After a Supreme Court rap on February 14 for missing the payment deadline, top telecom firms Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices over the last few weeks have scrambled to pay a part of their outstanding dues.Last month, the Supreme Court rejected a plea by companies such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for extension in the payment schedule and asked all of them to deposit an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues for spectrum and licences. It threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against top executives of these firms for non-payment.Some telecom firms are already struggling with mounting losses and debt and the additional liability has raised concerns of them defaulting on existing loans. Of the estimated dues that include interest and penalty for late payments, Airtel and Vodafone Idea owe about 60 per cent. In all, as many as 15 entities owe the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.These dues arose after Supreme Court, in October last year, had upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer. MBI ANS ANUANU

Vodafone Group CEO meets Telecom Minister as AGR crisis looms

<ul><li>Several users who had booked tickets after the relaxations of unlock 1.0, took to Twitter to complain about the cancellation of flights. </li><li>People with tickets from Mumbai, Chennai took to Twitter and <keyword id="6358032" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SpiceJet">Spicejet</keyword> replied to all with the same message.</li><li>Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had on Friday said that there would be no further lockdowns in the state due to coronavirus. </li></ul>Spicejet is cancelling tickets from several cities citing government imposed restrictions. Several users who had booked tickets after the relaxations of unlock 1.0, took to Twitter to complain about the cancellation of flights. Business Insider reached out to Komal Nathani, whose tickets were cancelled from Mumbai to Kanpur. Nathani was confused as the government of Maharashtra had announced no such measures. <div type="image" title="IMG-20200613-WA0033" msid="76360156" hostid="261"></div> Several other users with tickets from Mumbai, Chennai took to Twitter and Spicejet replied to all with the same message. <div type="twitter" handle="flyspicejet" handlename="SpiceJet" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1270711586638839808/2HUXWsMc_normal.jpg" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" status="@PRASHAN66888867 We regret any inconvenience. Due to the restrictions imposed by the State Government, the flight has been cancelled." createdat="1592052476000" id="1271786382185431042"></div> "The Ministry of Civil Aviation had initially allowed each airline to operate 33% flights as per the approved summer schedule when it announced a resumption of operations in May. SpiceJet, like other airlines, started the sale of tickets as per the government orders. However, at the last minute due to reservations expressed by multiple state governments the flight schedule had to be further truncated resulting in many flights being cancelled," said a statement from Spicejet. IndiGo too faced a similar brunt from consumers across the country. IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta in an interview to PTI said that the government should allow flights to operate at 50% of pre-covid times right now, while being hopeful of running 70% of flights by December. Dutta also believes that the government should resume international flights by July. Earlier, online travel agencies (OTA) had stopped selling GoAir tickets after numerous complaints of flight cancellations, refund and no response from the customer care team of the airline, according to <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/goair-travellers-fret-over-cancellations/article31718587.ece">reports</a>. According to reports, the customers said they were never informed about the cancelled flights until they tried to complete their web check-ins. “We decided to stop selling GoAir tickets from Monday because of customer flak due to a high number of cancellations, the airline being slow on refunds and not responding to complaints. One is not receiving the right kind of support that one needs as an OTA to service our customers. We are taking a cautious approach. There have been a very large number of cancellations in the past two to three days,” a spokesperson of a leading OTA told <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/online-travel-agencies-caution-against-booking-goair-flights/article31789537.ece">The Hindu</a> on the condition of anonymity as the airline is one of its key clients. But the unavailability of flights yet the availability of booking tickets worries consumers who have to wait till the end to know that their flight was cancelled. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/first-week-of-india-unlock-1-heres-what-worked-and-what-didnt/articleshow/76351605.cms">First week of Unlock 1.0 – Here’s what worked and what didn’t</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mm-share-price-gains-as-ssangyong-dents-fourth-quarter-profit/articleshow/76338292.cms">Mahindra and Mahindra sees a ₹2,700 crore dent from Ssangyong and other global subsidiaries</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/zero-late-fee-for-those-who-have-nil-tax-liability-says-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-in-gst-meeting/articleshow/76338653.cms">40th GST Council meeting highlights – zero late fee for those who have nil tax liability, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman</a>

India's airlines are cancelling tickets across the country citing government restrictions - and that's not the worst part

<ul><li>On June 8, the first phase of <keyword id="5577826" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UNLOCK-INDIA">unlock India</keyword> began with <keyword id="89358" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="shopping-malls">shopping malls</keyword>, offices, religious places opening across India. </li><li>However, the fear of the virus still looms large and the number of coronavirus cases continues to be on the rise. </li><li>Here's a look at what worked in the first week and what didn’t. </li></ul>It’s been a week of India’s <keyword id="9318169" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unlock-1-0">Unlock 1.0</keyword> – when the country slowly began to open up from the coronavirus lockdown. On June 8, shopping <keyword id="45856" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malls">malls</keyword>, offices, religious places opened across India. Even while the fear of the virus still looms large and the number of coronavirus cases continues to be on the rise, businesses are beginning to return to work with the hope of normalcy returning soon. But here’s a look at what worked and what didn’t. Public Transport With offices resuming in a phased manner, people are getting back on the roads. However, metros continue to stay shut, while buses have resumed service in several cities. In the national capital, the Delhi Transport Corporation had started shuttle services in mid-May and the ridership had already risen to 3.5 lakh as of <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-buses-ridership-reaches-over-3-5-lakh/articleshow/75901874.cms">May 22</a>. <div type="image" title="traffic jam mumbai" msid="76351623" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Traffic jam in Mumbai&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> While Mumbai misses its local trains, autos, taxis and BEST buses are now plying on the roads again. But because of social distancing, the BEST buses aren’t working in full capacity and this has resulted in delays as people have to wait longer for bus availability. "We don't take too many passengers. Also, people are cooperating. If the bus is full, they don't come in," a bus conductor in Mumbai told <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mumbai-residents-miss-local-trains-as-city-reopens-after-lockdown-2243507">NDTV.</a> <div type="image" title="bus1" msid="76351631" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A bus conductor in Mumbai stopping more people from boarding &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> In Mumbai, Freego – a self balancing scooter for the Mumbai police was also launched for patrolling. <div type="image" title="police" msid="76351650" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Scooters launched for police patrolling in Mumbai&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> In Bengaluru, public transport is still being avoided by people and people are preferring to travel their own cars. <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="restaurants">Restaurants</keyword> A lot of the restaurants decided to <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/restaurants-open-in-delhi-footfall-still-low-6095511.htm">not reopen</a> as with the migrant workers having gone home, they are short staffed and the curfew timing doesn’t really help their operations. Footfall has <a href="https://www.theweek.in/news/biz-tech/2020/06/08/as-malls-restaurants-open-across-india-footfall-low-amid-infection-fear.html">remained low</a> for almost all restaurants across the country. <div type="image" title="restaurant" msid="76351722" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A restaurant in Bengaluru practices social distancing while serving guests&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> In Delhi’s posh Khan Market, <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/delhi-40-restaurants-in-khan-market-shut-shop-more-likely-to-follow-suit-1688048-2020-06-11">40% </a>of the hotels have shut down. The 9 pm curfew also means the restaurants have to start winding down at a time which would have been their busiest hour earlier. Malls “Over 250 malls have started operations again, operating between 60-70 percent occupancy. Categories like electronics, cosmetics, casual fashion wear, kids wear have seen a good uptake in the first few days,” said Amitabh Taneja, Chairman, Shopping Centres Association of India. <div type="image" title="thiruvanthapuram mall" msid="76351742" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People at a mall in Thiruvanthapuram &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> But that’s not the full story. A survey from the Retailers Association of India said that a majority 67% of the consumers surveyed showed little to no excitement in shopping post the lockdown. Moreover, 78% of the respondents said their shopping expenditure would decrease. <div type="image" title="mall sanitization" msid="76351761" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Cleaning staff sanitizing a mall in Thiruvanthapuram&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> From directives like those from the UP government where malls can stay open, but not the shops in them to the rising number of coronavirus cases in India, consumers are still shying away from retail therapy. <div type="image" title="crawford market shops" msid="76351769" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Crawford market in Mumbai reopens&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “Retailers are amongst the most resilient entrepreneurs of the Indian ecosystem. Despite the lockdown relaxations, retailers are still facing a challenging time to revive their business. The impact on retail across the country is concerning and it will take a considerable amount of time for retailers to return to the green,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India. <div type="image" title="sarojini" msid="76351786" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A retailer waits for customers at the otherwise crowded Sarojini Nagar market in Delhi&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Hospitality The hospitality industry which has been one of the worst hit because of the coronavirus pandemic is now betting on “aas paas tourism”. The likes of Mahindra Resorts and OYO are betting on weekend getaways and driving destinations. Now, Airbnb too has joined them. Airbnb has recently launched the ‘Go Near’ campaign – betting on driving destinations. “Key domestic markets for Airbnb are Goa, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Mumbai &amp; Bangalore, but we are also seeing a surge in searches for stay options in nearby cities especially near metros like Alibag, Lonavala, Panchgani near Mumbai,” Airbnb said. Meanwhile, OYO is also seeing a similar positive uptick in bookings. “A significant part of this demand is driven by metro cities, including Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad, with a majority of bookings being made by young travellers followed by corporates and SMEs. With most people opting for personal means of transport, bookings trends so far show guests’ preference towards same-city travel. A majority of this traffic is being generated by our own channels - OYO app, website and call centre,” said an OYO spokesperson. Salons and spas Probably one of the most popular YouTube videos during the lockdown became “how to cut your own hair” – while some managed it successfully, others waited for the salons and spas to open again. But not so easily, salons themselves had to go for a makeover before opening up. <div type="image" title="SALON" msid="76351888" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People at a salon wearing full PPE kits&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> "L’Oréal’s Professional Products Division in India has over 170,000 hairdresser partners, operating in over 45,000 salons. We are strongly mobilised to help our salon partners navigate these challenging times, with the primary objective of ensuring the safety of consumers, our partner salons and their employees. We are committed, now more than ever, to our role as partner and advocate of the hairdressing industry and will continue to work tirelessly to lessen the impact of this crisis on them,” said DP Sharma, director, professional products division of L’Oreal. Meanwhile, as companies like Urban Company too started functioning, they have seen a huge uptick in the number of orders for haircuts and beauty services at home. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mm-share-price-gains-as-ssangyong-dents-fourth-quarter-profit/articleshow/76338292.cms">Mahindra and Mahindra sees a ₹2,700 crore dent from Ssangyong and other global subsidiaries</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/zero-late-fee-for-those-who-have-nil-tax-liability-says-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-in-gst-meeting/articleshow/76338653.cms">40th GST Council meeting highlights – zero late fee for those who have nil tax liability, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman</a>

First week of Unlock 1.0 – Here’s what worked and what didn’t

<ul><li><keyword id="6356895" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyrus-mistry">Cyrus Mistry</keyword> in an affidavit to the Supreme Court said <keyword id="832409" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Tata-Group">the Tata Group</keyword> had an adjusted net loss of ₹13,000 crore in 2019.</li><li>In his reply to the Tatas' petition challenging his reinstatement by the NCLAT last December, Mistry also demands that Ratan Tata should reimburse all the expenses to <keyword id="46894" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Sons">Tata Sons</keyword> since his departure.</li><li>Mistry was unceremoniously removed as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016, in a boardroom coup offering no reason. </li></ul>Cyrus Mistry, who was unceremoniously removed as the chairman of Tata Sons alleging non-performance, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court on Friday said the <keyword id="6355725" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-group">Tata Group</keyword> had an adjusted net loss of Rs 13,000 crore in 2019 -- the worst losses in three decades. In his reply to the Tatas' petition challenging his reinstatement by the NCLAT last December, Mistry also demands that group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata should reimburse all the expenses to Tata Sons since his departure in December 2012 in keeping with best global governance standards. Early January, the Tatas challenged the December 18, 2019, order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in the Supreme Court, which had stayed the order. Then, the apex court on May 29 began hearing on the case and asked all parties concerned to submit their replies within four weeks. The Mistry family firms filed replies in response to Tatas' affidavits on Friday. PTI has seen the copy of the same. Mistry was unceremoniously removed as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016, in a boardroom coup offering no reason. But later in select press statements the group had claimed that Mistry was removed primarily for his non-performance and claimed that Tata Sons was in loss under his watch. But, according to Mistry, the loss numbers were arrived at by excluding the huge dividend that the group cash-cow TCS was paying, which was averaging at over 85 per cent annually. "The Tatas had sought to exclude the dividends from TCS to arrive at operating profit in a bid to discredit my performance. Applying the same yardstick, the adjusted profit after tax (excluding profit from TCS) stood at a negative Rs 13,000 crore in 2019 for the Tata Group, which is the worst loss in three decades,” Mistry says in his replies to the Supreme Court. He also says Tata Sons had a 282 per cent increase in operating losses in 2019 at Rs 2,100 crore, up from around Rs 550 crore in 2016 and blames it for “the abysmal performance in recent years to legacy issues”. Mistry also questions the belated claim by the Tatas that his inexplicable removal was due to lack of performance, pointing to the unequivocal endorsement of his performance by the nomination &amp; remuneration committee which was duly approved by the board just weeks before his dramatic removal. Emphasising that his removal had nothing to do with his performance, Mistry's reply highlights that the Tata Group had annually outperformed the sensex by 5 per cent in terms of market capitalisation when he was the chairman. Mistry also says the group companies had logged in 34.6 per cent growth in annual net income in the first three years of his tenure and a 100 per cent rise in the patent filings, all leading to a $5 billion gain in brand value. The plea also seeks full disclosure of the expenses of Ratan Tata's office as these are related party transactions. "It was hoped that in keeping with the global best practices in corporate governance, Tata would reimburse his expenses over the past five years as was done by Jack Welch, the chairman emeritus of GE, reimbursed all his expenses to the company." Post-Mistry, the Tata Group's debt rose by Rs 80,740 crore in just two years compared to Rs 69,877 crore in the previous four years when he was the chairman. The conversion of Tata Sons into a private limited company would also cause the cost of debt to increase, he says, adding the standalone borrowing cost of Tata Sons jumped 92 per cent to Rs 2,776 crore in 2019 from Rs 1,453 crore in 2016. Similarly, employee expenses in the first three years of his chairmanship rose only by Rs 96 crore, which under the new management jumped by Rs 210 crore over a similar timeframe. He also notes that the company has seen huge value erosion of the investments when Tata was the chairman. In the past three years, Tata Sons invested about Rs 67,000 crore in portfolio companies but these investments have lost Rs 40,000 crore of the invested value. Though most of it was due to telecom ventures, the value of the listed non-telecom investments lost 23 per cent to Rs 16,243 crore, while during the same period the sensex rallied 27 per cent, underperforming the index by 50 per cent. Mistry also says when Tata was the chairman, the group had no proper investment strategy and that no strategy document ever presented to the board during his tenure. “All that one saw was mere a set of ill-conceived global acquisition and bad decisions on choice telecom technology platforms, and other business decisions all led to the largest value destruction in Indian corporate history. "These prejudicial actions led to the dividend yield from Tata Sons falling from around 0.26 per cent in 2005, the first year of the listing of TCS, to a paltry 0.06 per cent in 2019, when dividend yield of sensex companies was around 1.4 per cent,” he says. Seeking to hold the trustees of the dozen-odd Tata Trusts responsible for the mess at the group now, Mistry says he has evidence to prove that some trustees were involved in all major decisions and the same led to other shareholders getting negatively impacted. "Its time the trustees are held accountable.” SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/first-week-of-india-unlock-1-heres-what-worked-and-what-didnt/articleshow/76351605.cms">First week of Unlock 1.0 – Here’s what worked and what didn’t</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mm-share-price-gains-as-ssangyong-dents-fourth-quarter-profit/articleshow/76338292.cms">Mahindra and Mahindra sees a ₹2,700 crore dent from Ssangyong and other global subsidiaries</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/zero-late-fee-for-those-who-have-nil-tax-liability-says-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-in-gst-meeting/articleshow/76338653.cms">40th GST Council meeting highlights – zero late fee for those who have nil tax liability, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman</a>

You Searched For "GST late fee" and got 5 results

Petrol prices hike by 50 paise and diesel by 59 paise - for the seventh day in a row

IANS

Vodafone Group CEO meets Telecom Minister as AGR crisis looms

PTI

India's airlines are cancelling tickets across the country citing government restrictions - and that's not the worst part

Sanchita Dash

First week of Unlock 1.0 – Here’s what worked and what didn’t

Sanchita Dash

Cyrus Mistry sends a stinker to Tata Group – says the co actually saw a loss of ₹13,000 crore in 2019, worst in three decades

PTI