Current Affairs - Finance

Axis Securities was fined ₹10 lakh by SEBI for multiple regulatory violations, including discrepancies in reporting, mishandling client funds, improper penalty allocation, and inadequate grievance redressal. The penalty came after SEBI’s inspection covering the period from April 2021 to November 2022. The violations highlighted by SEBI reflect lapses in compliance, such as inaccurate reporting, failure to handle client funds properly, and transferring penalties to clients rather than absorbing them. This regulatory action is part of SEBI's ongoing efforts to ensure compliance and safeguard investor interests in the securities market.

SEBI’s MITRA (Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant) platform was introduced to help investors track inactive or unclaimed mutual fund folios. It allows investors to search for overlooked investments, ensuring they are not missed. Additionally, MITRA encourages KYC (Know Your Customer) updates to prevent fraudulent redemptions. Developed by RTAs, MITRA provides a searchable database that aims to assist investors in managing their mutual fund investments more effectively, helping them stay informed about inactive or unclaimed assets.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has partnered with PNB MetLife to increase life insurance accessibility across India, especially in rural and underserved areas. Through this collaboration, IPPB’s vast network of banking outlets will offer PNB MetLife’s life insurance products. This partnership aims to improve financial inclusion and security by providing affordable life insurance options to individuals in remote regions, making insurance more widely available. By leveraging IPPB’s reach, PNB MetLife seeks to bring financial protection to the masses, helping bridge the financial security gap in India.

CARD91, an Issuance Platform-as-a-Service company, has launched ‘Blitz,’ a proprietary UPI Switch designed to provide banks and financial institutions with seamless and scalable digital payment solutions. Blitz supports UPI 2.0, Credit Line on UPI, Rupay Credit Card on UPI, AutoPay, and Delegate Payments, ensuring high reliability with 99.99% uptime and the ability to process over 2000 transactions per second (TPS). This initiative enhances the efficiency and security of digital transactions, strengthening the financial ecosystem and promoting wider adoption of UPI-based services in India.

In the Union Budget 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a significant reform where individuals earning up to ₹12 lakh will not be required to pay any income tax under the new tax regime. This move aims to provide relief to the middle class and stimulate economic growth by increasing disposable income and encouraging higher consumer spending. Additionally, salaried individuals have a slightly higher exemption limit of ₹12.75 lakh, considering the standard deduction of ₹75,000.