VisVoice

  Repo rate review:  A catch 22 situation? The fourth bi-monthly review meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the current financial year (FY 26-27) starts tomorrow. What will be the decision of RBI MPC on repo rate?  On the negative side, Crude Oil prices, an important factor to contribute imported inflation, are ruling above USD100 per barrel in the last three weeks. The other factor for increase in domestic prices due to imports, the Indian rupee, inspite of FCNR B inflows of USD 133 billion, continues to be weak with ₹96 mark breached quite often. The US FED raised its policy range rate by 25 basis points to 3.75-4.0% in Sep' 26, the first increase since 2023. (Incidentally, RBI also last raised the Repo rate in 2023 only). Net FPI outflows crossed USD4 billion in Sep' 26 reversing the positive trends in July and August 2026. US 10 year Treasury Bond yields are ruling at 5.25% (50 bps more than the ruling rate last month) and...

  STATE BANK OF MYSORE -114th Foundation Day  Remembered for its Traditional Values and  Modern Outlook  While India and the entire World are Celebrating 'Gandhi Jayanti Day' today, as a mark of respect to the Father of our Nation, the staff (SBMians) of erstwhile State Bank of Mysore (SBM) in addition, celebrate their bank's (SBM) 114th Foundation Day, with joy and cherished memories. The bank, under the Royal patronage of His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore, Shri Krishnaraja Wadiyar, was founded by Bharat Ratna Shri M. Visvesvaraya (Sir Mokshakundam Vishweshwariah) on 2nd October 1913.  I was privileged to work in SBM during its Centenary Celebrations and also be a part of the bank, when it opened its 1000th branch. I worked in two capacities - as DGM (F& A) (2011-12) and GM (Treasury) & CFO (2012-2014). The entire period was  eventful. After recording its highest profit in FY11, due to stress in loan assets and increased provisions as a consequen...

 Proposed UPI transaction charges:  Is the action justified?  UPI transactions, exempted from MDR charges so far, are going to be charged effective 15th Oct 2026. Transactions up to ₹2000 under UPI are exempted and the proposed charges, to be levied above the exempted limit, carry a caveat that it shall not be passed on to the users/ultimate consumers. After all, UPI is part of the whole gamut of digital transactions, which form the majority of banking transactions today.  While the debate is going on as to  whether the consumers/small merchants are being fleeced in the process,  I would like to present certain facts about digital transactions before conveying my views on the proposed charges. 1. Digital Transactions carry convenience, reduced costs and increased opportunities: a. For the bankers: Digital transactions reduced the marginal operational expenditure like costs in carrying physical cash,  tallying, maintenance, staff salaries, branch renta...

  S BT Foundation Day 12th September 2026 Certain things cannot be restored in life. During such  situations, the counsel says "Accept reality; reconcile yourself". I accepted my retirement, sitting at home without work and all that; but yet to reconcile to the fact that my mother Bank SBT ceased to exist.  I joined SBT, when the work was carried out manually. Then I worked in a partially computerised set up followed by a fully computerised core banking environment as well. I mostly I worked in branches, till I entered administrative offices at higher levels. Month after month, on all salary days, I used to see, interact, and offer a 'cup of chai' to my senior retirees, who used to throng the branch for withdrawing money and updating their passbooks. The situation did not change, even when the ATM cards were introduced, passbook printing machines were kept alongside the online ATM machines.  Most of the retirees preferred cash withdrawal from the counters, (select so...

  NCLT Order on Mr.Subhash Chandra's liability as Personal Guarantor Dissenting banks have grounds to challenge News: 1. The National Company Law Board (NCLT) has allowed Zee Group founder and Chairman Subhash Chandra's (Mr. Chandra) plan to repay just ₹ 6.5 cr. against the admitted claims of ₹22,006 cr. This amounts to a recovery of around 0.03% of the admitted claims. 2. Mr. Chandra said the claims against him as personal guarantor were just ₹3,922 cr. and the claims pertain to, standing as personal guarantor to M/s.Vivek Infracon, Spirit Textiles and Churu Enterprises. He also said ₹620 cr. has already been settled and the borrowing entities had offered to pay ₹1,113 cr. to multiple lenders. 3. Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) (both public and private) are considering an appeal against the NCLT's decision. Impact: There is a wide spread impression that huge haircuts are witnessed in the lenders' books, in the resolution process under IBC. The debtors walk away with...

Overvaluation of NSE/BSE stocks: An example Last week, our Parliament passed an amendment to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007. This enables the government to allow charges on digital payments including UPI transactions, which are free now. The Finance Minister (FM) clarified that person-to-person UPI payments will remain free and the consumers will continue to pay through UPI, free of charge. However, the FM did not rule out introduction of  merchant discount rate (MDR) on limited merchant transactions, in future, above a prescribed threshold, which might be recovered from merchants. This pushed the market price of the shares of the banks and payment service providers (PSPs) positively in the last week. T he stocks of One 97 Communications Ltd. (Paytm)  witnessed an increase of ₹ 144 (10% ) on 10th August 2026 and closed at ₹ 1585. (previous close ₹ 1441). For the week ended 14th Aug' 26, the share price moved up further and closed at ₹ 1604.   I was surpr...