[anjan_c2007]

The link to the rail radar enquiry here:

http://railradar.trainenquiry.com/

This has been launched nearly a week ago by the Indian Railways to track train movement by all the desirous persons.

[anjan_c2007]

I received this email a few days ago, from a friend who knows more about such matters. It goes thus:

"Ramanathan Hariharan updated his status: "Surprisingly after reading about
the "Service Tax", I strongly decided to share this information to
everyone.

This happened at the restaurant. Let me explain.

We had been to several restaurants recently. I observed that "service tax" has been mis-used and charged to the customers like you and me.

Let me give an example.

Food and Beverage = Rs. 1000.00
Service Charges @ 10% = Rs. 100.00 (10% on the Food and beverage amount)
Service Tax @ 4.94% = Rs. 54.34 (4.94% on F&B + Service Charges)
VAT @14.5% = Rs. 145.00
Total = Rs. 1299.34

As per the definition - "Service Tax can be charged only for the services provided to the customer".

Now, see what is happening here in the above said example.

Service Tax should be charged only on the Service Charges amount i.e Rs.100 and not on the entire amount (1000+100).

In this example, the customer should be charged only Rs 4.94, whereas he has been charged Rs. 49.00 extra.

Where does this money go? Only the restaurant owner and the chartered accountants who work for them know.

· So, I have started asking them the questions - and surprised to see the reactions from the famous restaurants. Either they say: Sir we cannot change the format of the bill - so , we will recalculate and tell you the revised amount. You may pay only that.

· Sir, you do not need to pay the Service Tax amount itself.

I now have 3 to 4 restaurant bills, for which I have paid only the service tax - on the service charges and not on the total amount.

Every bill must carry the TIN number and Service Tax Number, if they charge it. So, I ask for the Service tax number if it is not available in the receipt that they provide.

We cannot go to any government official and ask them to get this right - because of our system.

Please do share this with every one of your friends and known people.

Ask for the right tax calculation and pay only the tax which is supposed to be paid. Verify every bills and receipts that you make payment on. "

We need to discuss such an important issue with feedback.

[faustus77]

Anjan C2007
Hi
First of all a thank you for starting this thread.It will be a boon for ordinary persons like us.
Regarding the service tax charged at the restaurants I read a clarification(just the head line) 2 or 3 days back.It was in DNA or Times of India.
Somebody else must have read it fully.Request a link.
Meanwhile I will try and locate it.
Regards

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Anjan C2007
Hi
First of all a thank you for starting this thread.It will be a boon for ordinary persons like us.
Regarding the service tax charged at the restaurants I read a clarification(just the head line) 2 or 3 days back.It was in DNA or Times of India.
Somebody else must have read it fully.Request a link.
Meanwhile I will try and locate it.
Regards

Thanks faustus77, will await the link.
Meanwhile here is a piece of information and a link for all India-based domestic
consumers:

Do you want to know how many LPG cylinders you have consumed till date in FY 2012-13 ?

a) Visit the Govt of India, Petroleum Ministry’s web site http://petroleum.nic.in/
b) You can see a small hotlink on its right side top panel, where the words “LPG Portal” keeps blinking.
c) Click on “LPG Portal” and it will open to a page that gives interactive cloud-blurbs like “Rate a Distributor”, “find multiple connections in the same name” etc., etc.,
d) On this screen, on the right side, bottom portion, you can see logos that are linked to your own LPG supplier – Indane, Bharatgas and HP Gas.
e) This will lead you to “Transparency Portal” where you are required to give inputs like State, City and Distributor name details.
f) After clicking “Proceed” button, you can see next screen where you have to give your consumer number / your name for search.
g) Here, you can find out the No. of LPG cylinders issued under your consumer number in Financial Year 2012-2013.

Screen shots attached for your quick reference.

As you are aware, you are eligible for 6 cylinders at concessional rate and any additional cylinder will be very costly.

Hence one can plan the consumption to optimise it:

[pareshraheja]

[quote=anjan_c2007;2957376]

"Ramanathan Hariharan updated his status: "Surprisingly after reading about
the "Service Tax", I strongly decided to share this information to
everyone.

Mr. Hariharan is my neighbor and also a family friend.
He works with Metro Cash & Carry at a very senior position in the commercial department. You can close your eyes and believe what he has mentioned about the service tax.

[anjan_c2007]

Another piece of information emanating from the State Bank of India:

The SBI had announced in leading news papers that before 31st of Dec 2012 all existing cheques are to be used/unused ones to be returned to the bank. New CTS cheques would be issued.


State Bank of India (SBI) wants you to sign its cheques with darker ink. From 1 January, the bank will accept only those cheques which conform to new standards. The step has been taken as per the directions of the Reserve Bank of India.

A PTI report said that the move is part of the effort for standardising and enhancing the security features in cheque forms and its migration to the CTS (cheque truncation system) 2010 standard. All branches of the bank will now issue only CTS 2010 standard cheques to customers, SBI said in a public notice today.


New cheque norms. Reuters

Eventually, all banks are expected to move on this new cheque system. There are a few things you need to keep in mind as a banking customer following this change.

What is Cheque Truncation System (CTS):

Simply put, CTS is a process that will give banks the freedom to avoid transporting a physical cheque from the presenting bank (where the cheque is deposited) to the drawee bank (where it is issued). As per the CTS, instead of a physical cheque, an electronic image of the cheque will be sent to the drawee bank. Of course, this image will have all the necessary information needed to process the cheque. Right from the nine-digit MICR code, the date of the cheque and the details of the presenting bank, like branch, etc.

What’s the big deal about it

Faster: Since the cheque will not actually move from one location to another, the time needed to clear the cheque will be lesser. So, if an inter-city cheque takes anywhere from three to seven days (at time more) to get cleared, with CTS it will take a maximum of a couple of days; at times, even it might get cleared the same day.

Curtail Loss: When a cheque has to be moved physically, it can get damaged or worse even get lost in transit. CTS would take care of such issues.

What should you do:

Request: First get in touch with your bank, give them the Non-CTS cheques for cancellation and request the new kind of cheques. That is, CTS 2010 standard cheques.

Ink: Also, keep in mind that going forward, when you write the cheque you should use darker ink so that your signature is captured by the software properly.

Be careful: Also, when you fill the cheque you will need to be extra careful. If you make any alterations in the cheque, your cheque will simply not be cleared; this is to ensure that the risk of fraud is reduced. Which means you will have to use a new cheque leaf if you make a mistake. And the fact that many banks are charging for extra cheques means you might just have to bear the extra cheque costs too.

The RBI plans to have this new system implemented across all banks. So get yourself at least one pen with darker ink.

[anjan_c2007]

A new notification has been issued by the Ministry of Finance, Govt of India, in respect of pensioners and family pensioners of the Central Government. The pensioners/family pensioners do not have to appear in person compulsorily for their life certificate at the respective Bank Branch, paying them their monthly pension/ family pension. Earlier, it was compulsory for them to appear in person every November to confirm that they are still with us and within the confines of the world.
The form can be filled up and signed by the one of eligible authorities (listed in the notification), and this will from now on do the job.
A copy of the notification and the form are attached below

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Anjan C2007
Hi
First of all a thank you for starting this thread.It will be a boon for ordinary persons like us.
Regarding the service tax charged at the restaurants I read a clarification(just the head line) 2 or 3 days back.It was in DNA or Times of India.
Somebody else must have read it fully.Request a link.
Meanwhile I will try and locate it.
Regards

Not the link you wanted but still the clarification on Service Tax : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ml#post2984296

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
There have been a series of ads run by Customs and Central Excise on the subject of service tax.
Here is a link to today's Times of India
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defau...&ViewMode=HTML

This clarifies the whole issue that we have been overcharged.
Regards

[lambuhere1]

Indian Oil Press Release on LPG

Source : http://www.iocl.com/aboutus/NewsDeta...ID=23945&tID=8

It has been decided to increase the entitlement of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders till March 2013 from 3 to 5 cylinders. However, no refund shall be admissible on any LPG domestic cylinder already supplied at non subsidized price during the period 14.09.2012 till date. For FY 2013-14, the entitlement of subsidized domestic LPG cylinder shall increase from 6 to 9

[ssingri]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

This happened at the restaurant. Let me explain...

I noticed something similar, and in cases there was no service tax charged on the Service Charges. A friends husband works for the Service Tax dept and wanted to turn it over to him for further investigation but forgot to collect the invoice. This is the plan of action next time around.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[anjan_c2007]

Close on the heels of the orders for enhancement of pensions issued for defence retirees, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has issued similar orders for civilian pensioners on 28/01/2013.

The pension for civilian pensioners would now not be less than 50% of the minimum of pay within the pay band (minimum of fitment table) rather than the minimum of the pay band itself, plus of course the applicable Grade Pay.

The link :

The orders can be accessed by clicking here.

[anjan_c2007]

An important circular for pre 2006 retirees regarding their PPO's.

PPO2_220213.pdf

This one is regarding fixation of time limits for resolving pensioner's grievances.

Cpengram1_180213.pdf

A link for the general public to lodge grievances against any Department/ Ministry of the Govt of India. As is well known time limits to resolve grievances shall be in vogue very soon and delinquent officials may have to pay a fine of Rs 250/- per day beyond the time limit subject to a maximum of Rs 50,000=00

http://pgportal.gov.in/

[anjan_c2007]

This is a recent circular regarding withholding gratuity for Central Employees, who are retiring/ have retired.

[anjan_c2007]

The new (CUSTOMS) Baggage Rules for travellers:

TravellerGuideMay2013.pdf