Consumer is King » Money

Police official ordered to pay compensation by Human Rights Commission for interfering in a money dispute

ashish — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:49:40 +0000

In India, police officials tend to believe that they have a huge amount of power, and they are not shy from exercising this power. There have been a huge number of cases in the past where police officials have been accused of using their influence in a negative manner, and in many cases, there have been convictions also of these police officers. This includes cases where police officials take sides in a dispute because either they have been influenced by one side, or because they have a stake in one of the sides of the dispute (or as in this case, there is a relative known to them). It gets more difficult for them to justify their involvement when the cases are more in terms of civil disputes, since in such cases, it is essentially a dispute between 2 parties without any direct criminal implications.
There have been fewer cases where a state Human Rights Commission has stated that a police official should be docked a penalty for intervening in one side of a dispute, and I am not sure whether a State Human Rights Commission has the legal authority to order such penalties. However, the facts of the case do not justify the stated involvement of the police official (link to article):

A police official has landed in trouble for interfering in a money dispute in 2007. The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has directed Mayilvaganan, the then DSP of Srivaikundam in Tirunelveli district, to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to Rajarathinam and his brother of Tiruchendur. The state government should first pay the compensation and then recover it from the police official, the Commission said.
Commission members A R Selvakumar and S Paramasivan, rejected the DSP’s contention and said the police had no jurisdiction to act in a dispute that was civil in nature. Further, the DSP hadn’t produced the original or copy of the complaint allegedly given by Ravi’s family. Oral testimony of Rajarathinam and his brother appeared to be natural, cogent and believable exposing the DSP’s high-handedness.

Facts about down payment for loans

ashish — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:33:05 +0000

You go for buying a house, and are not fully conversant with what all this means. There is a nice house that you are seeing in a metro, and it costs around Rs. 40 lakhs for you to buy this house. A lot of people do not have the money to buy such a house outright, and will get into the system of taking a loan. This is the point at which people get into problems if they have not planned properly. So, what is a down payment ?
Down payment is the amount of money that you have pay from your end. Typically, banks and other financial institutions expect buyers to pay around 15-20% as down payment. So, for a house costing Rs. 40 lakhs, the amount to be paid as down payment could be be something like Rs. 6-8 lakhs, which is a large amount of money. A lot of people do not really expect to pay this kind of money, and get into problems when they have to make such down payments. Banks can even increase this amount of down payment when times are bad, or the person has a lower credit rating.
A down payment is something that gives a bank reassurance that the person buying the property has some stake in the property, and will try his best to repay the loan, since in default, their property could also be at risk of being attached by the bank. It is only people with very high credit rating who get a chance to get allotted loans that have lower down payment criteria, although it is more possible for shorter term loans such as car loans.
What should you consider when negotiating your down payment:
- The higher the down payment, the lower the amount of loan and outstanding due from you
- If this is not a new property and is older, the expectation is that the down payment percentage increases
- Down payment does not include other payments such as property taxes, stamps duties, registration charges, etc; so make sure that you have left enough money to cater for these charges-
- Start saving for your down payment – Since the down payment itself can be a hefty amount, you should start saving for a down payment early on

Safety feature – Online Credit card usage

ashish — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:12:39 +0000

If you have ever stopped to look at the online credit usage you would have done (including reviewed the information you were asked to provide), it would seem extremely easy to use somebody’s card and use it for buying stuff. What is it that you need to provide in terms of information when using your credit card online ? You go to a site, decide to buy something (maybe jewellery, maybe some electronics goods, or something that can be delivered instantaneously such as software) and are asked whether you need to pay through a credit card, using the much hyped secure card payment gateways (that use ’128 bit encryption security’, and are from well known banks).
Think for a minute about the information you provide online; you typically provide the following information:
- Name
- Date of birth (sometimes)
- Card Number
- 3 / 4 Digit security code at the back of the card
- Validity period of the card
Now, if you had gone to a restaurant, and paid by card, the person taking the billing (waiter, cashier) would already have all these details (except for Date of Birth), and for that, if they ask you to fill a card containing personal details such as DOB and anniversary, most of us would fill that already. That is enough for them to use that card details online, and in many cases, this goes undetected, or detected only at the end of the month. So why is nothing being done about this ?
Well, something is finally being done (link to article):

If you’re an online shopaholic, make sure you have a personal identification number (PIN)/password for your credit or debit cards. Otherwise, forget about using them for internet shopping from August 1. A recent directive by the Reserve Bank of India makes it mandatory to have an additional authentication passcode verified by Visa or MSC (Mastercard Secure Code). This is in addition to the other information already on the card like name, card number, expiry date and CVV (card verification value) number
So how do you get this new password? Credit/debit card users have to register online with their banks, giving personal and card details. They will then be given a PIN or password to be be used as an additional layer of security at the checkout point before completion of the transaction.

So, if you did not know about this directive, and wonder as to why your card does not seem to work online anymore, now you know the reasons for the same. So, go ahead, and contact your bank for getting the confirmation. As to whether this is fool-proof, only time will tell.

Information about Senior Citizen’s Scheme, 2004

ashish — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:55:55 +0000

As the time for income tax comes close, investment into the right instruments is critical. As events of the past one year have shown, investment into the stock markets have a factor of risk that needs to be factored in. This is even more important for senior citizens who are more averse to this risk, given that capital protection remains an important goal for them. Towards this end, one major investment instrument for Senior Citizens is the Senior Citizens Saving Scheme 2004. Some of the salient features of this scheme are:

The scheme is available for citizens above 60 years of age; however a provision has been put in place for individuals who have crossed 55 years of age. Such individuals may invest subject to the conditions that,
* The person has retired under a voluntary retirement scheme or a special voluntary retirement scheme on the date of making the investment,
* The investment is made within three months of the date of retirement,
* And a certificate from the employer, indicating the fact of retirement, retirement benefits, along with period of such employment with the employer, is attached with the application form.
* Non-Resident Indians and Hindu Undivided Families are not permitted to invest in the scheme. If a depositor becomes a Non-resident Indian subsequent to his opening the account and during the currency of the account under the SCSS Rules, the account may be allowed to continue till maturity, on a non-repatriation basis and the account shall be marked as a Non-Resident account [Rule 13 and GOI letter F.No.2/8/2004/NS-II dated June 19, 2006)
* Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) is a Government of India Product.
* 9% interest offered to depositors.
* Since the product is offered by Govt of India, this product is one of the most Safest Investment Option.
* Premature closure of account is possible after one year from the date of opening the account.
* Mode of holding: The depositor can hold an account either individually or jointly with his/ her spouse
* Maturity: The scheme has a tenure of 5 years. The account can be extended for a 3 year period by making an application.
* Tax benefits: The interest income from the scheme is fully taxable.
* Senior Citizens Saving Scheme 2004 and the Post Office Term Deposit Account have been added to the basket of saving instruments under Section 80(C) of the Income Tax Act.

A lot more questions are answered in the FAQ available on the RBI page (link)