Why Piracy is Good and Copyright Sucks: An Excerpt From “Sell Your Own Damn Movie!” - indieWIRE

Why Piracy is Good and Copyright Sucks: An Excerpt From “Sell Your Own Damn Movie!” - indieWIRE

Bill to trace black money ready

The government has prepared a bill to confiscate illegal money stashed in India by foreigners or put away by Indians in offshore banking accounts.

“We will introduce the bill in Parliament in the monsoon session,” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

The bill will allow India to discharge its international obligations and enable it to put pressure on other countries to help identify and confiscate illegal funds put away by Indians in offshore banking accounts.

Last week, the government had set up an eight-member panel headed by Prakash Chandra, chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), to recommend a mechanism to recover illegal money, whether parked in India or abroad, and suggest a legal and administrative framework to deal with the menace of illegal money.

Any money earned through corrupt or illegal means or possessed by evading income or other taxes such as excise or customs duty is black money.

India, Mukherjee said, was also negotiating Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) with several countries and will sign Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) with tax havens.

“We are getting substantial co-operation,” he said.

The government, the minister added, is in a position to make changes in the income tax act to tackle non-cooperative jurisdictions.

One option is to slap a withholding levy, or tax deducted at source, of 30 per cent or more on payments to entities in countries and tax jurisdictions that refuse to share information.

“We have developed a toolbox... We have enabled ourselves to declare (tax havens) as non-cooperating jurisdiction and countries as and when the situation arises. We will take appropriate steps,” said Mukherjee.

However, as of now “no country” has been put in the category of a “non-cooperating jurisdiction”, he said.

The G20 leaders had asked each country at their Seoul summit last year to develop counter-measures against non-cooperative jurisdictions.

Under the provisions, the government will notify the countries that are reluctant to share banking information and other details.

Twin perils

Mukherjee today also called for stepping up multilateral co-operation to end banking secrecy and deal with the “abusive” transfer pricing mechanism.

“While the countries have agreed to end bank secrecy in general, some countries have agreed to do so only from a prospective date and are not willing to exchange past banking information,” he said.

Such issues put a question mark on the efficacy of the present legal provisions for exchange of banking information, he said. “There is an urgent need to revisit the existing legal framework developed by the OECD.”

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a 34-member grouping of developed and developing countries. India is also strengthening its transfer pricing provisions to stop the shifting of profits outside the country.

Source- The Telegraph, Kolkata, 14/06/2011

Twin cost threats refuse to recede

Higher interest rates and input costs, which ate into the fourth-quarter earnings of corporate India, still remain a potent threat, brokerages believe.

Market watchers said investors should be cautious on their stock picks as the twin threat could erode values.

“While the macro headwinds led by slower industrial activity, higher interest rates and cost inflation had been threatening the earnings growth momentum, the toll is worse than expected in fourth quarter aggregates,’’ a report by Motilal Oswal said.

According to the brokerage, the underperformance of several heavyweights in the fourth quarter was disappointing and resulted in an earnings decline of 0.4 per cent in the sensex pack.

Analysts are advising caution to investors as the interest rate and inflation threats are yet to die down.

The disappointments that we are seeing in the fourth quarter may continue in the current period as well and, therefore, investors should be cautious in their approach. They could look at specific stocks in defensive sectors such as FMCG and pharma.

While the RBI was likely to keep jacking up rates to tame inflation, input pressures were unlikely to subside and could impact margins.

Besides auto and infrastructure, banking (largely PSU lenders), telecom, metals, oil and gas and real estate disappointed during the quarter.

The IT sector came up with a mixed performance as a seasonally weak period saw some companies disappointing on the volume growth front, while the others registering positive revenue growth. Pharmaceuticals and FMCG put up a good show with the latter benefiting from lower advertisement spend.

According to observers, banking and metals may see a dip in their margins because of high borrowing and raw material costs.

Maruti insurance arms court trouble

Problems are adding up at Maruti Suzuki, which is fighting a labour turmoil at its Manesar plant. Storm clouds are now hovering over the car maker’s six subsidiaries that have been selling insurance policies as corporate agents of various general insurance companies.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has fined six general insurance companies — National Insurance Company, New India Assurance Company, ICICI Lombard, IFFCO Tokio, Royal Sundaram Alliance and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company — a sum of Rs 5 lakh each for granting corporate agency licenses to six Maruti Suzuki subsidiaries violating regulations.

Following this, the insurers are likely to cancel their agency license to Maruti subsidiaries.

Maruti Suzuki India had formed six subsidiaries —Maruti Insurance Business Agency Ltd, Maruti Insurance Distribution Services Ltd, Maruti Agency Network Ltd, Maruti Insurance Agency Solutions Ltd, Maruti Insurance Agency Services Ltd and Maruti Insurance Agency Logistics Ltd.

The car maker holds 99.99 per cent equity in each of the subsidiaries and has procured corporate agency licenses between 2002 and 2007 for selling policies from various general insurance companies.

IRDA noted that insurers granted licenses to Maruti subsidiaries “grossly violating” the IRDA (licensing of corporate agents) Regulations, 2002.

According to the regulation, only one license (of the corporate agent) can be granted to one business group provided that the group doesn’t have any other insurance activity, including brokering, agency or product manufacturing.

The regulation also defines that all companies in which a single promoter group holds 10 per cent equity or more will be considered belonging to the same business group.

For granting corporate agency licenses to group companies, insurers need prior approval from the insurance regulator.

However, the six Maruti subsidiaries were granted licenses by insurers without complying with these regulations. “This was clearly possible by circumventing the provisions and guidelines to their advantage and such blatant violations itself calls for stringent action,” the insurance regulator said.

Indians most upbeat on housing, money

India has emerged as the most optimistic housing market in the world, as Indian home-buyers are upbeat about the country's economy as well as their personal finances, says a survey by a global mortgage insurer.

According to a survey by mortgage insurer Genworth Financial Inc, 64 per cent of surveyed respondents in India felt positive about the outlook for their national economy over the next 12 months compared to just 30 per cent across all surveyed countries.

Respondents in India, Mexico, Canada and Australia were the most positive about their countries' economies, while the US, Ireland, the UK were least confident, the study said.

Explaining the factors behind the high optimism of Indian and Mexican home-buyers the study said cultural factors have a large affect on home-buyers.

Potential home-buyers in India and Mexico save by living with their parents and extended family.

Over 80 per cent of potential home-buyers in these countries were living with at least one other generation, and over 30 per cent were living with at least two other generations, the study said.

By living at home, potential home-buyers are able to reduce their living expenses, unlike in countries like Canada, the US and UK, where half of all respondents were living away from the family home, paying rent and incurring living costs.

Meanwhile, the study, which covered over 9,000 potential homeowners in the US, UK, Canada, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and Australia, also noted that housing affordability concerns compounded by rising interest rates are worrying potential home-buyers in India more than in any other country.

Besides, rapid urbanisation has driven up property prices in tier I cities, forcing large number of companies and individuals to tier II as well as tier III cities.

Rapid growth in affluence along with shortage in housing supply would lead to high property prices across major urban centres in India and are likely to keep home ownership out of reach for many Indians.

"A large majority of non-property owners did not believe they would be financially capable of buying their first home for another five years," the study said.

With housing shortage estimated at 25 million units and 0.5 million units added every year, getting onto the property ladder is going to be increasingly difficult for lower income Indian home-buyers.

The study further said that "over the last 40 years, the average age of home-buyers has been rising in all countries except for India, as housing has become increasingly unaffordable."

Courtesy: - http://www.financialexpress.com/news/indians-most-upbeat-on-housing-money/801963/0

SBI breaks rules on loans to Reliance Ind

India's largest bank The State Bank of India (SBI) has breached RBI's credit exposure norms during three consecutive years with regard to its loans provided to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL).

The public sector lender, which also has significant exposures to troubled Air India besides certain telecom firms being probed in relation to the 2G scam, has now disclosed that its credit to RIL was in excess of the limits prescribed under the RBI's prudential credit norms.

Detailing the cases where it breached prudential limits for single-borrower exposure during the fiscal ended March 31, 2011, SBI has named RIL as also public sector majors Indian Oil and BHEL as three such borrowers in its annual report.

This is the third straight year when SBI has exceeded the single-borrower ceiling with regard to RIL, as per the bank's annual reports for the past three financial years.

However, the bank brought down its exposure to RIL within the limit on the last date of the previous fiscal, i.e. March 31, 2011, according to the SBI annual report.

The public sector lender had provided credit in excess of prudential norms to RIL during 2009-10 and 2008-09 also.

During the year 2009-10, the bank's credit exposure was in excess of prudential limits for Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), BHEL and Tata Group.

Prior to that, SBI exceeded prudential credit limits during 2008-09 with regard to its exposure to RIL and IOC.

As per RBI guidelines, the exposure ceiling limits are 15 per cent of capital funds in case of a single borrower and 40 per cent of capital funds in the case of a borrower group.

However, the credit exposure to a single borrower can go up to 20 per cent, if the additional 5 per cent exposure is on account of extension of credit to infrastructure projects.

Similarly, the credit exposure to borrowers belonging to a group may go up to 50 per cent, if the additional 10 per cent exposure is for credit to infrastructure projects.

The bank's exposure to telecom companies recently came under criticism as some of these companies are facing probes in connection with the 2G scam involving alleged breach of regulations in allotment of licenses.

In an analyst conference after the bank's full-year results for 2010-11, SBI disclosed that its exposure to telecom companies was Rs 22,600 crore (3 per cent of its loan book), while exposure to telecom companies under investigation was Rs 1500 crore.

Besides, its exposure to airline companies, including troubled Air India was Rs 4,500 crore.

The bank also disclosed a total exposure of Rs 1,00,000 crore in the infrastructure sector, including Rs 30,000 crore to the power sector.

With regard to single-borrower exposure limit exceeded in 2010-11, SBI said in its annual report, that its credit to RIL breached the prudential ceiling on three occasions during the year -- between April and July 2010, from August to October 2010 and from November 2010 to February 2011.

Between April and July 2010, SBI's exposure to RIL was Rs 15,815.48 crore, as against a ceiling of Rs 13,646.26 crore, while the exposures exceeded the respective limits by well over Rs 1,000 crore on two other occasions also.

The outstanding exposure to RIL as on March 31, 2011 stood at Rs 5,645.44 crore, which was within the limits.

For IOC and BHEL also, the credit exposure exceeded the ceiling on three occasions during 2010-11.

During the year 2009-10, the credit exposure exceeded the prudential ceilings on three occasions each for IOC, RIL and BHEL, while the exposure was in excess of the limit for Tata Group on two occasions.

For 2008-09 also, the credit exposure was in excess of the permitted level on three occasions for both RIL and IOC.

Courtesy: - http://www.financialexpress.com/news/sbi-breaks-rules-on-loans-to-reliance-ind/801927/0

Turf lock on commodity ETFs

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) have reached an understanding that the capital markets regulator will not clear any more commodity asset-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) till they sort out their disagreement over who should regulate the product.

At present, ETFs come under Sebi’s purview.

The FMC, which is the regulator for the commodity futures markets, has argued that it has the right to regulate gold and silver exchange traded funds since the underlying asset is a commodity which comes under its bailiwick.

FMC chairman B.C. Khatua told reporters here today that the two regulators had agreed to resolve their differences through dialogue.

Khatua said approvals that had been granted to some fund houses over certain commodity-based ETFs had now been put on hold.

“In the larger interests of investors, both of us have agreed that other ETFs (gold, silver) will be allowed only when the issue is resolved,” he said.

Recent reports have indicated that several mutual funds were keen to float silver ETFs to take advantage of the surge in silver prices in the past 18 months.

The differences between Sebi and FMC have been brewing for close to a year, fuelling another turf battle between regulators.

Last year, Sebi and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) had locked horns over unit-linked insurance products (Ulips).

The National Stock Exchange was also forced to defer the launch of derivatives based on gold exchange traded funds as the FMC had raised objections. The regulator for commodity futures market had objected on the ground that options were not allowed in commodities.

Some of the issues that figured in today’s meeting of the FMC with members of the national commodity exchanges were the introduction of mini contracts in agricultural commodities, standardisation of know-your-client (KYC) agreements across exchanges, and extra delivery centres for bullion contracts. Exchanges also wanted to put a halt to trading on Saturdays.

The total value of trade in Indian commodity futures market during 2010-11 stood at Rs 119.49 lakh crore.

The market registered a growth of 54 per cent during the year compared with Rs 77.65 lakh crore in the previous year.

Audit glare on SBI provisions

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has asked the State Bank of India — the country’s largest commercial bank — to explain the reasons for the surge in the provisions it made against bad loans in its results for the fourth quarter ended March 31. The SBI had raised its provisions against bad loans by 49 per cent to Rs 3,264 crore from Rs 2,187 crore in the year-ago period. Total provisions at the bank rose 82 per cent to Rs 6,059 crore during the same period. The sharp jump in provisions was the principal reason behind the PSU banking giant reporting a net profit of Rs 21 crore compared with Rs 1,867 crore in the same period last year. The resultant fall in the SBI’s profits drew a caustic remark from RBI deputy governor K.C. Chakrabarty recently. Although Chakrabarty did not name the bank, he said whenever the chairman of a bank retired, its profits went down as the successor wanted to start with a clean slate. “If we don’t audit or create the standard then anybody will report anything that will not be meaningful and nobody will rely on that. Books should not be as per the minds of the chairman but reporting should be as per books,” he had said. It is now learnt that the accounting regulator will soon take up the reasons behind the rise in provisions at the SBI during the fourth quarter, not only with the bank, but also with its auditors. ICAI president G. Ramaswamy was quoted as saying that a letter would be sent to the SBI asking it to state the reasons that led to the increase in provisions in the March quarter. The letter is expected to be sent within a week and further action will depend on the SBI’s response, the ICAI chief added. It, however, could not be ascertained as to whether the accounting regulator will look into specifics such as the jump in provisions for NPAs or its overall provisioning procedures. Meanwhile, the SBI has also breached the Reserve Bank of India’s credit exposure norms with respect to loans it provided to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in the past three consecutive years. In its annual report, the SBI has disclosed that its credit to RIL was in excess of the limits prescribed under the RBI’s prudential credit norms. The bank added that apart from RIL, Indian Oil Corporation and Bhel were the other two clients who had benefited from a breach in the prudential credit limits. Under the RBI norms, loan exposure to any entity has to be capped at 15 per cent of capital funds in the case of a single borrower and 40 per cent of capital funds in the case of a borrower group. However, the exposure to a single borrower can go up to 20 per cent if the additional 5 per cent is on account of extension of credit to infrastructure projects.

RIL buys Bharti insurance stake

Mukesh Ambani today stormed into the crowded insurance business arena by acquiring Bharti group’s 74 per cent stake in its life insurance and general insurance entities for an undisclosed sum of money. The move will pit the elder Ambani scion against his sibling Anil Ambani who scrapped a non-compete agreement in May last year that removed virtually all turf restrictions that they had decided on when they carved up patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani’s empire in January 2006. Two Mukesh Ambani companies — group flagship Reliance Industries and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd (RIIL) —will acquire the stake that the telecom giant held in the two entities: Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd (Bharti AXA Life) and Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Ltd (Bharti AXA GI). Both insurance entities have raked in losses in 2009-10 with Bharti Axa Life suffering a loss of Rs 478.17 crore and Bharti Axa GI of Rs 142.30 crore. It isn’t clear how much Ambani has had to fork out for the insurance companies but it won’t be hard for him to pay. Reliance Industries is sitting on a $9.5-billion (Rs 42,393 crore) cash mountain and will rake in another $7.2 billion as soon as the government clears the deal it struck with British Petroleum in February under which the UK exploration giant will acquire a 30 per cent participating interest in the 23 oil and gasfields that RIL operates. Under the terms of the deal with the Bharti group, RIL and RIIL will effectively hold 57 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, in both the insurance companies and will become AXA’s joint venture partners in India. The Paris-based group will retain its current 26 per cent shareholding in the insurance joint ventures and will continue to manage the day-to-day operations. Interestingly, there is an option under which AXA can acquire from RIL and RIIL up to 24 per cent in both the insurance companies if the FDI regulations and other norms permit such a purchase. It is contemplated that if this option is exercised, the two Reliance companies will effectively hold 50 per cent with RIL owning 45 per cent and RIIL the rest. AXA will then hold the remaining 50 per cent in both companies. However, it is assumed the life insurance business of Bharti AXA was alone valued at over Rs 3,000 crore. In March this year, Nippon Life had acquired a 26 per cent stake in Anil Ambani’s Reliance Life for Rs 3,062 crore. Analysts had then said the valuation given to Reliance Life was higher than anticipated. For Mukesh Ambani and Reliance which began with textiles, the acquisition of Bharti’s stake is another instance of it diversifying into areas other than oil and gas or petrochemicals. While RIL has already entered the organized retail business, last year, it had stunned observers when it entered the hospitality business by checking into EIH. In June last year, it acquired a 95 per cent stake in Infotel Broadband for Rs 4,800 crore. In March this year, RIL announced that it was entering financial services by joining hands with the DE Shaw group. Though insurance is a capital intensive business with a long gestation period, for a cash rich company like RIL, it can withstand the challenges in these businesses. Bharti AXA Life started operations in 2006 and has a market share of a little over one per cent in the insurance arena. During 2010-11, it collected total premium of Rs 790 crore. Data from IRDA show that the company’s new business premium income dropped to Rs 362 crore, a fall of 17 per cent. On the other hand, the gross premium underwritten by Bharti AXA GI stood at Rs 551.48 crore, an increase of 77 per cent over that in 2009-10.

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No need to file tax return for income up to Rs 5 lakh

As many as 85 lakh salaried tax payers whose taxable income, including salary and interest income, is up to Rs 5 lakh, will not be required to file income-tax return from now. 

"No income tax returns are required for salaried persons whose annual annual taxable income including salary and interest is up to Rs 5 lakh. We would shortly notify this," a Central Board of Direct Taxes official said. 

However, he said this would not cover income from other sources like house property, capital gains and gains from profession and business. 

The scheme would be applicable from assessment year 2011-12 onwards. This means that salaried persons eligible under the scheme would not have to file returns for the financial year 2010-11 in 2011-12 (assessment year). 

Under the scheme, those salaried persons who want to claim tax refund would have to income tax file return. 

As per the Memorandum to the Finance Bill 2011, the government will be issuing a notification exempting 'classes of persons' from the requirement of furnishing income tax returns. 

Under the scheme, the salaried person wants exemption from filing IT return, has to disclose about the incomes like dividend and interest to his employer for tax deduction. In the scenario, the Form 16 issued to salaried employees will be treated as income tax return. At present, it is obligatory for all salaried persons to file income tax return under the Income Tax Act, 1961. 

The idea behind the move is that in cases where there are no other sources of income, filing of a return is a duplication of existing information. 

Nifty Level

NIFTY INTRA-DAY for 6th June 2011

RESISTANCE.........5555….5585...5645….5680

SUPPORTS............5515...5485...5450....5385

Money can grow on trees!

Even as global businesses and industry are being forced to take a closer look at their negative impact on environment, the 'business of environment' itself is looking up. The focus on global warming and climate change and the campaigns to help save the planet are bringing more people closer to environment than they have ever been. 


Right from increasing attendance at wildlife reserves to the abundance of adventure sports that take people closer to nature, businesses that 'exploit' nature are doing better than ever before. Though, in India at least, questions still persist whether 'ecotourism' or 'environment tourism' really helps the conservation effort at the local level. 


Amol Khante, director of CAC All Rounder an organization that's involved in ecotourism activities, says, "There definitely has been more interest in the outdoors over the last few years, leading to more business. However, not all of the business leads to gains for the local environment or even the local people, whose day-to-day life impacts the environment. More needs to be done to ensure such businesses benefit local tribals or villagers and wean them away from a life living off the forests surrounding their villages." 


Even though such businesses may not always directly contribute finances to save the environment, Khante believes that they do help create awareness among the general population about the importance of environment. "Adventure sports pull you out of your comfort zone. At such times people are more receptive to new experiences. In this state of heightened awareness, say after a strenuous trek of 2-3 hours, any city-bred yuppie will realize the importance of a tree's shadow or the grass under it. He will remember the taste of cool water from a natural spring, and how different it is from his office water cooler. This bonding will stay with the person permanently, prompting him to think a bit more about his environment over the long term." 


Most people closely involved with environmental issues agree that there is a link between tourism and the well-being of the environment, though tenuous at times. Now, with the government making efforts to ensure the negative impact of tourism is minimized, everyone can only hope that tourism and nature grow on each other in a symbiotic relationship. 

5 JUN, 2011, 12.42AM IST, RAHUL SOMAN,TNN 

India to adhere global benchmarks for cell phones radiation

Amid concerns over likely health hazards due to radiations emitting from mobile phones and towers, the government today assured that India would adhere to best global and scientific benchmarks while drafting the final guidelines in the telecom sector . 

The government's reaction comes in the backdrop of a latest WHO report which says cellphone use can possibly cause brain cancer. 

"While telecom is a huge success story in India, we have to ensure that any possible health related effects of radiation emitted by mobile phones and towers are reflected in the guidelines. 

"The final guidelines would take into account the best global benchmarks and scientific evidence on the subject," Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Sachin Pilot told PTI. 

The government in August last year, had set up an inter- ministerial group to evaluate the evidence, re-visit radiation guidelines for mobile towers and adopt guidelines for radiation emission by cell phones. 

The group had made it mandatory for cellphone manufacturers to declare the radiation level of each mobile handset on the packet itself. 

For mobile towers, the group proposed that radiation norms should be ten times as strict as the existing ones- from f/200 watts per square meter to f/2000 watts per square meter. 

Uptill March 31 this year, 5,88,645 out of 6,05,859 base stations had been self-certified. 

The group had experts from Department of Telecom, Ministry of Health, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 

The report is currently under the consideration of Department of Telecom.

5 JUN, 2011, 01.00PM IST,PTI 

India to emerge as third largest domestic banking market by 2050: PwC

Banking assets of emerging nations are likely to overtake that of G7 economies by the year 2050, with India likely to emerge as the third largest domestic banking market in the world in the next three decades, says PricewaterhouseCoopers . 

According to a PwC report, total domestic credit in the E7 economies (China, India, Brazil , Russia , Mexico , Indonesia and Turkey) is likely to overtake total domestic credit in the G7 economies within the next 40 years. 

The analysis also suggests that India is likely to be the fastest growing of the E7 economies and could grow faster than China in the long run. 

"China will continue to grow somewhat faster than India over the next 5-10 years, but after that Chinese growth will be held back by its rapidly aging population (due in large part to its one child policy) and diminishing returns to its investment-led strategy," the study said. 

In contrast, India and other emerging economies like Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey have much younger populations and faster-growing labour forces. 

The banking sector in the seven emerging markets are not going to "rival" those in India and China in terms of size, but by the year 2050, they could be of the same order of magnitude as the banking sectors in countries like France and Italy from the much lower levels today. 

"The banking world in 2050 will look radically different from the one we see today, with the E7 economies becoming at least as important as the G7," the report said. 

Many E7 economies already have relatively profitable banking sectors, and our estimates suggest that total profits from domestic banking in the E7 will be around half those in the G7 by 2025 and larger than in the G7 before 2050, the PwC report said. 

At present, the weight of the E7 in global banking assets is low so the global average looks close to the G7 average. However, overtime, this is going to change with the E7 ratio rising much faster than the G7 ratio so that "near convergence is achieved by 2050". 

Retail banking sectors in emerging market economies are likely to see particularly rapid growth, since mortgage and consumer credit lending is generally not well developed yet in these markets compared with corporate and government lending. 

Besides, in the next few decades E7 banks will also become major competitors in the global "war for talent". 

The signs are already visible, with Russian banks hiring investment bankers from London, Chinese banks importing the US or European executives, and Indian banks attracting staff with experience of working for major G7 institutions. 

"As the E7 banks internalise the knowledge of these staff, so their competitiveness in both domestic and global markets will increase," the report said. 

However, some major E7 banks may also come under foreign ownership, the study said.






5 JUN, 2011, 04.13PM IST,PTI 

Jeevan Arogya ----Table No 903 of LICI

At last LICI found time to introduce a truly unique policy of its own at last. A uniquely defined health Insurance Scheme (Table No – 903) has started form 1 June 2011.

 You alone (Principal Insured) or all your family members including parents-in-law, from age 18 to 65 (75 for parents) and 3 months onwards for children cover up to 80 years for your family and 25 for dependent children.

Hospital Cash Benefit (HCB) – for hospitalization = Initial Daily Benefit amount chosen by you (will increase by 5% every year and No Claim Bonus on completion of 3 years, and will be called Applicable Daily Benefit

Major Surgical Benefit – for major surgeries = 100 times of Applicable Daily Benefit

Day Care Procedure Benefit – for minor surgeries done within one day = 5 times of Applicable Daily Benefit

Other Surgical Benefit – for all surgeries not covered in above two benefits = 2 times of Applicable Daily benefit 

Hospital Cash Benefit (HCB) 

• For hospitalization of more than one day where surgery may or may not be involved
• Choose between Rs.1000 and Rs.4000 as initial daily cash benefit
• Increases by 5% every year
• Additional no claim bonus of 5% every fourth year
• Less than or equal amount for every additional member as per choice
• Can avail 30 days in year one, 90 days every year thereafter not to exceed 720 days total during the policy period
• Double the cash benefit for treatment in ICU

Major Surgical Benefit (MSB) 

• For surgeries that require prolonged hospitalization
• 100 times of applicable daily benefit (including 5% increase and no claim bonus)
• Maximum annual benefit 100% of major surgical benefit per person insured
• Maximum life time benefit 800% or 8 times of major surgical benefit per person insured
• See annexure for full list of MSBs

Day Care Procedure Benefit (DCPB) 

• For surgeries that may not require hospitalization of more than one day
• 5 times of Applicable Daily Benefit
• Maximum annual benefit = 3 surgical procedures per person insured
• Maximum lifetime benefit = 24 surgical procedures per person insured

Other Surgical Benefits (OSB) 

• Where surgery is required but does not fall under the MSB and DCPB category
• 2 times of Daily Benefit Amount for each person insured
• Maximum annual benefit = 15 days in the 1st year and 45 days in subsequent years for each person insured
• Maximum lifetime benefit = 360 days for each person insured

Other things to know:

• Optional accident benefit and term insurance benefit
• Initial premium fixed guaranteed for 3 years and revised every 3 years depending on age and health condition
• All members to be added at the beginning except where new members are through childbirth (next policy anniversary), marriage new spouse and parents in law within 6 months and risk cover starts from next policy anniversary)

Emergency Cash Facility: 
Only for instances where the treatment is from listed network hospitals and for Major Surgical Benefits alone – 50% of the MSB credited to the bank account to be treated as an advance from the claim amount

Exclusions 

• Pre-existing condition unless disclosed and accepted by the insurer
• Routine checkups, cosmetic treatments, epidemics, dental treatment, non-allopathic treatments, reopening of former surgeries, self-inflicted injury, dangerous sports, war, participation in illegal and criminal activities

Premiums: 

• Yearly, Half-yearly, of monthly (ECS)
• 30 days of grace for all modes except Monthly where it is 15 days
• Cooling off cancellation 15 days
• Nomination available
• Approximate premium – Rs.1922/- (age 20) to Rs.3768/- (age 50) for males and Rs.1393 (age 20) to Rs.2849 (age 50) for females

What is different from Mediclaim

• Pre defined benefit- No reimbursement, but lump sum paid based on pre-defined benefit
• Not based on expenses incurred
• This will tend to indirectly reduce the Health care cost, which is rising due to cash less mediclaim benefit
• All benefit is dependent on HCB

Termination of Policy

• If policy is issued on a single life

1. Non Payment of premium within revival period
2. On death
3. On Date of cover expiry
4. On exhausting all the life time maximum Benefits Limits as specified above

• If policy is issued on more than one life

1. Non Payment of premium within revival period
2. On death or Date of cover expiry of the PI and if the Policy does not continue with the IS as the PI
3. On death or Date of cover expiry of IS after Policy continues with the IS as the PI after the PI dies or reaches his/her Date of cover expiry
4. On PI exhausting all the life time maximum Benefits Limits as specified above

Treatments in respect of Specific waiting period

1. Treatment for adenoid or tonsillar disorders
2. Treatment for anal fistula or anal fissure
3. Treatment for benign enlargement of prostate gland
4. Treatment for benign uterine disorders like fibroids, uterine prolapse, dysfunctional uterine bleeding etc
5. Treatment for Cataract
6. Treatment for Gall stones
7. Treatment for slip disc
8. Treatment for Piles
9. Treatment for benign thyroid disorders
10. Treatment for Hernia
11. Treatment for hydrocele
12. Treatment for degenerative joint conditions
13. Treatment for sinus disorders
14. Treatment for kidney or urinary tract stones
15. Treatment for varicose veins
16. Treatment for Carpal tunnel syndrome
17. Treatment for benign breast disorders e.g. fibroadenoma, fibrocystic disease etc.