Betting on BPOs ?

You bet  !

And here is some better news for the BPOs , which earn for India billions of dollars through “ Service Exports “ :

BPOs may be kept out of GST ambit  

Extract  :

India aims to keep business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers out of the ambit of the goods and services tax (GST), ensuring that they won’t face 18% tax. 

This will ensure that services provided by captive BPOS to their parents as well as by Indian back-office service providers are treated as exports and not face tax in the country. Intermediary services face 18% GST. 

Exports, as a principle, have to be tax neutral. Thus, all taxes used in the inputs are also reimbursed. Back-office services have enjoyed this benefit even under the erstwhile service tax regime. 

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In August last year , I sent following e-mail to our Policy Makers , where I wrote :

 [  Ready to be Ridiculed  ]

If engaged in “ Export of Intellectual Property “ ( BPO / KPO / LPO / Any PO that the rest of the World needs to be carried out remotely by our low cost graduates ) , then it would become possible to :

·     #    Put those unsold 4 lakh flats to a productive use

·     #    Increase “ Asset Utilization “ of property worth Rs 20 lakh*crore lying idle

·     #    Provide gainful employment to 120 lakh youth

·     #    Export “ services “ valued at $ 528 Billion / year

     ( Read :   Brain Inc  2.0  ) 

     https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/08/brain-inc-20.html

#       Encourage owners of these 4 lakh flats to turn their flats into “ Knowledge Factories “

         ( exempted from “ Factory Act “ / “ Shop & Establishment Act “ / “ Minimum Wages Act “

          / “ PF Act “ / various Labour Laws…  etc  )

#       These “ Knowledge Factories “ to be governed by “ Human Enterprise Act “ ( to be

         drafted / legislated )

#       Owners need not pay any taxes such as “ Property Tax  / GST / Income Tax etc “

#       No questions to be asked as to the source of funds with which the flat was bought

        

#       Owners to “ Register “ as a Start Up as laid down in :

   “  Start Up Act –2015 “

    https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-new-economic-order.html

Related Readings :

HowAbout Virtual Call Centers ?                            [  04 Oct 2016  ]

 

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20  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

The new GDP

In current turmoil about ownership and protection of personal data , this GDP stands for,

Great  Data  Pilferage

On the internet, there are thousands of Data Thieves , who hack into web sites / search engines and siphon off all kinds of user data which accumulates there through usage

Then there are web sites where users submit a huge amount of their personal data for availing certain services / for buying things etc

These sites are known to “ sell “ such user-data to other companies ( - mostly , e-commerce companies ), without “ explicit “ user permission

Sites like Google – Apple – Facebook – Amazon ( the infamous GAFA ) , may not be “ selling “ user data to others “ directly “ but make such data available to advertisers “ indirectly “

  

In the process , GAFA make tons of revenue / profit

This has prompted France to introduce ( effective Jan 01 ) , the so-called GAFA tax , which is estimated to yield to the French government, $ 570 million in 2019

I am worried that when our own DATA  PROTECTION  ACT  takes concrete shape , our government too , may consider levying some such tax on Social Media sites

But the Indian user is much smarter . He is telling the government ,

“ Over the past 4 years , you have convinced us about the advantages of DBT ( Direct Benefit Transfer ) .

So , please , don’t  tax GAFA . It will be impossible to figure out how much revenue / profit they made , using our PERSONAL data and therefore , how much tax they must pay

Whatever figure IT department may come up with , will get challenged in Supreme Court

Instead , let them pay us DIRECTLY for use of our personal data .

We have just read the following news report :

Your digital life may be up for sale for just Rs 3,500: Kaspersky Lab 

[ According to cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab that investigated Dark Web markets to find out how much personal data is worth, cyber criminals can sell someone's complete digital life for less than $50 (nearly Rs 3,500 )

This can include data from stolen social media accounts, banking details, remote access to servers or desktops, and even data from popular services like Uber, Netflix, and Spotify, as well as gaming websites, dating apps, and porn websites which might store credit card information. ]

We would not be surprised if our data is being sold to 10 different parties ( E-Com sites / Advertisers etc ) every month , adding up to a loss of Rs 35,000 per month ( Rs 4.2 lakh per year )

We request you to incorporate provisions in our proposed Data Protection Law , to get these web sites to deposit this amount DIRECTLY in our Jan Dhan bank account, every time they use it for commercial purpose


And please , exempt this income from personal income tax  !

=========================================================

Dear Shri Arun Jaitleyji / Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji ,

Here is your golden opportunity to implement an equivalent of a Universal Basic Income , without having to worry – “ How shall we fund it ? “

Just ensure that our own Data Protection Law gets centered around :

Only  Answer  ;  a Statutory  Warning 

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19  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

  

Starting a Virtuous Circle

Government is about to set in motion, a VIRTUOUS  circle ,

·         Starting with “ Apprenticeship “

·         Moving on to “ On the Job Training “

·         Leading to “ Employability “

·         Culminating in “ Jobs “

Following news report describes how this circle will get going :

Modi govt about to roll out a mega jobs programme for undergraduates      

Highlights :

#    Ministries involved ……………… HRD – Labour  -  Skill Development

   

#    Eligibility……………………………    Final year Degree students in Humanities and non-

                                                 technical courses

#    From   …………………………………. Private and government-funded higher education

                                                 institutes

 
#    Apprenticeship Period………….. 6 – 10 months  ( including “ On the Job “ training )

#   Target  …………………………… ……. 1 Million student in the 2019-20 academic session

#   Govt contribution to Stipend … 25 % upto Rs 1,500 per month

#   Linkages …………………………. …… Central PSUs – Sector Skill Councils – Big Industry

#   Long term Goal ………………… ..  National Integrated Apprenticeship Program for 8 million

                                                  students / year

#   Funds Provided ……………………..  Rs 10,000 crore set aside for National Apprenticeship

                                                   Promotion Scheme

=========================================================

  

Dear Shri Dharmendra Pradhanji ,

Congratulations on this long overdue initiative , which incorporates some of my suggestions emailed to you earlier !

But , this still falls far short of the target set by Shri Modiji while announcing the amendments to the Apprenticeship Scheme in June 2016

At that time , Shri Narendra Modiji had said :

" LET'S MAKE INDIA THE  SKILL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD "

He went on to add :

" By next decade, India will have 50 MILLION SURPLUS MANPOWER FOR EXPORT "

=========================================================

This should be read in the context of the Skills Development target that NSDC had set for itself in 2015 , which is :

“  To impart  skills  to 300 MILLION YOUTH BY 2022 ( approx  50 million / year ) “

It was in this context that in my email ( dt 06 June 2016 ) , I had suggested following :

[ source : Skill Capital of the World ?  ]

 

[ A ]  What was “ missing “ in the Amended Scheme ;

 

 #  Offset against CSR ,( of the expense incurred by Companies on

     Apprentice Scheme ) was NOT restricted to only those Companies

     which engaged apprentices in excess of mandatory  2.5 % of employee

     strength

 #   For 6 trades , training duration was NOT reduced from 3 to 2 years

#    Stipend payable was lower than specified 70% / 80 % / 90 % of

      Semi-Skilled minimum wages  ( of approx Rs 6000 per month )

#    Minimum Mandatory limit was raised from 2.5 % to 5 %

#    There was NO upper limit for engaging ( currently 10 % of employees )

[ B ]  I had further suggested :

·           Turn this entire exercise into a PROFIT MAKING proposition in the

            hands of PRIVATE SECTOR ( Individuals + Corporate + Start Ups )

·           Enable BLACK MONEY to be invested in private sector SPVs called,

            " XYZ Manpower Skilling SPV ",

            with no questions asked as to the source of funds invested ( domestic

  

            or Foreign )

·           Grant INDUSTRY status to such SPVs

·           In order to attract PRIVATE Individuals / Corporate, to come forward

            and set up these 50,000 SPVs ( before March 2018 ), provide a 10 year

            TAX HOLIDAY ,  to " Manpower Skilling Industry "

-      much in the same way NITI Aayog has recommended for companies

            investing in Electronics manufacturing activities . And  as against

            expected creation of 20,000 jobs due to this proposed policy in

 

           Electronic Industry , my suggestion would create 50 LAKH jobs @ 100

           jobs / SPV !

 

=========================================================

Other Related  E Mails sent :

Universal Basic Income       [  20 Jan 2017  ]

Discovering the Obvious ?   [ 30  Nov  2017  ]

 

Saving Jobs : Creating Jobs [ 19  Dec  2017  ]

 

Safeguarding Existing Jobs ? [ 24  Jan  2018  ]

 

================================================

18  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Mandatory ? NO ! Voluntary ? why NOT ?

Thank you Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji,

For buying my above argument in relation to voluntary use of e-KYC through Aadhar for mobile connections

Context :

Government gets into the act to ensure Aadhaar linkage   

Extract :

The government is actively considering amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to provide legal backing for mobile numbers and bank accounts to be linked to Aadhaar on a voluntary basis. 

============================================

Ever since the Supreme Court said ,

“ Mobile Service Providers cannot “ insist “ on Aadhar lnkage “

 I have been asking , 

“ But what if the user wants to supply Aadhar ID on a voluntary basis ? 

In such a case , why should either the Government or the Court , object ? “

So , in the past 2 months , I sent many emails to the Cabinet Ministers and the Supreme Court

The last one ( 23  Oct  ) , reads as follows :

=======================================

e-KYC : “ Voluntary “ is the expedient

Here is how Wikipedia defines “ Expedient “  :

adjective

(of an action) convenient and practical although possibly improper or immoral.

"either side could break the agreement if it were expedient to do so"

noun

a means of attaining an end, especially one that is convenient but possibly improper or immoral.

"the current policy is a political expedient"

CONTEXT

Following news appeared in today’s Economic Times :  

Telcos call for voluntary use of Aadhaar in e-KYC process 

Extract :

Telecom operators are pushing the government to explore legal ways to bring back Aadhaar based customer verification, by either approaching the Supreme Court for allowing voluntary use of the unique 12-digit number for the electronic know your customer (e-KYC) process or bringing in a legislative framework. 

MY TAKE

Bringing in a “ legislative frame-work “ will take months . May be longer considering that all MPs are terribly busy with the forthcoming elections

There is nothing “ improper or immoral “ in a user voluntarily providing his Aadhar ID for e-KYC

I hope COAI , DoT , TELCOs and the Supreme Court found time to read my following emails , suggesting that there is nothing illegal in VOLUNTARY use of Aadhar ID by anyone for any purpose :

Something is better than Nothing !    ……………………………………………………………[  18  Oct  2018  ]

A majority of 21 wins !   ……………………………………………………[  11  Oct  2018  ]

Who will bell the Cat ?   ……………………………………………………………………………………………………  [  05  Oct  2018  ]

Why not an “ Option Plan “ for users ?    …………………………………………………………………………….[ 02  Oct  2018  ]

Aadhar Data Delete ? Simple Solution   ……………………………………………………………………………….[ 30  Sept  2018 ]

50 Gladiators : 50 million Spectators    ………………………………………………………………………………..[ 27  Sept  2018  ]

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17  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs