Even as the Modi government has been engaging with the startup community from quite some time to work upon ways to boost ease of doing business and curb taxes imposed on startups, there have been a number of measures announced this year by the government, particularly in this year’s budget focusing on solving the controversial angel tax aka section 56(2)(viib) of the income tax act, reducing tax scrutiny on funds raised by startups, e-verification of investors and source of funds, extending exemption period of capital gains from the sale of house for investing in startups etc. To implement these announcements, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had issued multiple clarifications.

Publication : Financial Express

Date: September 02, 2019

Within 18 months of its foray into China, Oyo established its presence in 337 cities, through 10,000 Oyo-branded hotels with a staggering 5,00,000 rooms. Oyo has done what very few have been able to accomplish—taking on the Chinese in their den. What makes their story even more remarkable is the success they have had penetrating successfully into China, reaching tier 3, tier 4 cities and beyond. India’s Ola Cabs just bagged a private hire vehicle (PHV) operator licence for Greater London, expanding its U.K. footprint to seven cities and counting.

Publication : Fortune India 

Date : September 03, 2019

Startups and investors have lauded the government’s initiatives to exempt startups from the so-called ‘angel tax’, but some people in the community fear the dreaded tax may continue to haunt many of them because a few key issues remain unresolved. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had on August 30 issued a consolidated notification giving a comprehensive summary of the mechanism under which startups would receive exemption from Section 56(2) (viib) of the Income Tax Act. But it did not provide a fix for some outstanding issues, industry insiders said.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : September 04, 2019

From biscuits to cars, India’s economic slowdown has already hit many sectors. Is the slowdown spreading to the lone bright spot: the internet economy? Rising smartphone penetration and the growth of Reliance Jio, which slashed data prices and disrupted the sector over the past few years, led to a phenomenal surge in India’s internet economy over the past few years. According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), between 2014 and 2018, the number of wireless subscribers doubled to 568 million even as data usage rose a whopping 56-times to 46.4 billion GB over the same period.

Publication : Mint

Date : September 03, 2019