Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic has majorly hit the trade and industry, slowing down economies around the globe. The businesses in India have also been severely impacted by the recent lockdown which has created a fear of recession in the economy.

28 May 2020

Aarogya Setu is a mobile application launched by the Government of India on April 2, 2020. As per the terms of service of the Aarogya Setu Application (“ASA”), the intention is to provide a service to notify, trace, and suitably support a registered user regarding the COVID-19 infection. The press release1 issued by the Ministry of Electronics and IT explains the functioning of the application in the following manner

27 May 2020

Anti-dumping duty on the import of product cannot exceed the margin of dumping. Dumping margin is the difference between normal value and export price and is specific to the exporter concerned. Normal value means selling price in the domestic market of the exporting country in the ordinary course of trade.

26 May 2020

Data is becoming increasingly important in the current business landscape. Regulators, policy makers and business houses alike are concerned with how privacy and data security impact the economy. According to a 2016 report by McKinsey, all types of data flows acting together have raised world GDP by 10.1 percent over what would have resulted in a world without any cross-border flows of data.

25 May 2020

Search under Section 132 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“IT Act”) is conducted to unearth cases of assessees with undisclosed income and is always considered as invasion of privacy by the assessees on whom it is conducted. The assessees also fear search because information found during search will not only affect that assessment year but would also empower Authorities to conduct Assessment/Reassessment proceedings for preceding six years.

19 May 2020

As held by the Courts in catena of judgements, e-contracts are valid and enforceable under the laws of India. India has been and will be witnessing a surge in the execution of contracts electronically. Now, due to COVID-19, execution of contracts electronically has become inevitable. Considering the ease of execution coupled with the enforceability, there is an increased recognition for these forms of execution.

13 May 2020

In the case of Abhijeet Bhansali v. Marico Ltd.[1], the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court while dealing with the issue of disparagement of PARACHUTE COCONUT OIL by a video blogger, laid down the principles by which any such video or any statement can be considered to be defamatory.

12 May 2020

Bank guarantees, letters of credit, pledges and other similar instruments cement commercial dealings by securing payment against default of a contract. A key aspect of such security instruments is also that they are usually exercisable at the unilateral option of the holder, in order to ensure timely cashflow, despite a pending dispute as to whether the default has occurred.

8 May 2020

Several lessons are being learnt from the experience of lockdown amidst COVID-19.It also exposed varioussoftspotsin Indian laws and executive orders.Questioning the authority on such technicalities would have been termed insensitive and may have caused unnecessary hurdles to secure the recovery from the pandemic.

1 May 2020

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India (“DPIIT”) had vide press note 3 of 2020 dated April 17, 2020 (“Press Note 3”) amended the extant foreign direct investment (FDI) policy dated August 28, 2017. As per Press Note 3, the amendment was introduced with an aim to curb opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies by persons or entities (directly or indirectly) of any country which shares a land border with India (“Bordering Country”) during difficult times.

30 April 2020

Due to the current lockdown, the Government has introduced certain relief measures for the industries by extending the timelines for statutory and regulatory compliances under various laws. In this regard, the Finance Ministry has issued multiple notifications on 03-04-2020. A snapshot of the notifications relevant for present discussion is as under:

29 April 2020

The lockdowns due to COVID-19 in various countries have shrunk global trade with countries choosing to protect their people first before opening any further borders. The Government has also been tweaking the Import and Export Policy for many goods keeping in view the requirement of these goods in India. The Government has also issued an Ordinance, circulars, press releases, etc., on various relief measures for the benefit of the trade and industry.

29 April 2020

In the International trade scenario, World Trade Organization (“WTO”) provides an operating framework which facilitates free trade between its member-countries. The Dispute Settlement Understanding (“DSU”) is a legal text containing the rules for dispute settlement in the WTO. The Dispute Settlement Body (“DSB”) comprising of representatives of all WTO Members, administers the DSU and is responsible for overseeing the entire dispute settlement process.

28 April 2020

The extant COVID-19 pandemic has been plaguing individuals and industries alike. The Government of India has, with a view to curb opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reviewed and revised the extant foreign direct investment (“FDI”) policy dated August 28, 2017 (“FDI Policy”), issued by the Department for Promotions of Industry and Internal Trade (“DPIIT”) vide press note 3 of 2020 dated April 17, 2020.

20 April 2020

Business environment has undergone a drastic change i.e. from the traditional ‘physical system’ to the modern ‘digital system’. With user/ consumer facing countries devising measures to tax digital businesses, the International tax landscape is certainly undergoing a renovation.

20 April 2020