GST bill became law previous week after president signed it post ratification by the majority of states. GST brings most of the indirect taxes under one roof. As always, the banks will be playing a major role in collecting the taxes and providing the data of collected taxes to the concerned departments. This needs a huge infrastructure to maintain, process, analyse and to connect the government department with the banks network.
Goods and Services Tax Network, (GSTN) is a Section 25 (not for profit), non-Government, private limited company. It was incorporated during the previous UPA regime to provide IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). We can see the first two parties, state and central governments in the share holdings of GSTN. The important stake holders- Public Sector Banks which collects the taxes for the government are not in the scene. The government of India holds 24.5 per cent stake in GSTN while states together hold another 24.5 per cent. Balance 51% equity is with non-Government financial institutions like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd, LIC Housing Finance and NSE SIC.
GSTN has applied for loan of Rs 550 crores from IDFC. The central government is standing as guarantor for this loan though it is not a majority share holder. This is questioned by Mr Subramanian Swamy- why the majority stake holders are not the guarantors for this loan? In a way he right, but the government's interest in faster implementation of GST is not questionable. His comments on shareholding of GSTN makes the issue interesting.
Subramanian Swamy
As Mr Swamy's says partnering with private institutions to set up an institutions like GSTN to handle highly sensetive data is the matter of worry. I am not saying ICICI, HDFC or LICHF are unreliable, but when someone inside the house are capable of doing some job, calling an outsider to do the same job makes no sense. Firstly, public sector financial institutions holds the majority of share in banking industry and they are capable of partnering with government for implementation of such a high aimed mission like GST even during the period of high bad debts. Secondly, it is not ICICI or HDFC would be collecting the majority of the taxes, but it is definitely SBI, a public sector bank will be the indispensable tax collector for the government even in future. Third reason is by making public sector banks to hold stakes in GSTN, goverment would have had better control over it. Mandatory audit by CAG is always better than an offer to CAG audit. Mr Swamy's proposal to replace GSTN share holding of private banks with public sector banks makes some sense because tax data is sensitive and also confidential.
The decentralization and democratization of information was the distinguishing feature of the internet and Web1, while Web2 corporations wanted to create walled gardens to retain consumers within their ecosystems.
The internet was developed in the 1960s and 1970s, at the peak of the Cold War. The US created a decentralized network of numerous computers spread out across the nation so that its defense system would continue to function even after a nuclear assault by the Soviet Union. Tim Berners-Lee later developed the World Wide Web, one of the first internet applications, in the 1990s. Users could easily “surf” the internet and browse material with browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer. It was decentralized (run by standard computers), open-source (anyone could build on it without restriction), and read-only (very few people had the technical skill to publish on it).
Web2 started in the middle of the 2000s when websites like Facebook and YouTube first appeared. Regardless of technological ability, anyone could publish content online using these platforms. The decentralization and democratization of information were the distinguishing features of the internet and Web1, while Web2 corporations wanted to create walled gardens to retain consumers within their ecosystems. In fact, with Web2, information is being more compartmentalized and controlled by a small number of powerful technology firms.
The centralized control of data and power has been a major component of the Web2 era. Virtually all web programs, including Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and others, are centralized on servers owned by a select few big businesses. Companies keep users’ data in their control so that users don’t have to, and their terms of service govern how data is handled. For instance, a small number of businesses dominate a disproportionate amount of the global market for cloud infrastructure, with Amazon, Microsoft, and Google holding over 65% of the market. In terms of online traffic rather than data storage, Facebook had 2.9 billion monthly active users in 2021, or more than 60% of active internet users worldwide. Simply put, a small number of powerful technological businesses effectively dictate what users see and do online. As a result, rather than becoming a democracy (where users own and control their data), the internet has changed into something more akin to an oligopoly (where a few firms possess and manage user data).
The quickest option for centralized enterprises to provide reliable infrastructure to fuel Web3’s dApp ecosystems is to build several blockchain nodes in AWS data centers and enable developers to use them from anywhere for a fee. A few participants in the market accomplished just that, albeit at the cost of decentralization. This has left the ecosystem susceptible to threats and at the mercy of a few strong entities.
For users and creators, this centralization causes problems, including:
Economic problems
In contrast to users and creators, value accrues to intermediaries and, consequently, a select group of people (i.e., founders, employees, and investors). Because platform advertising regulations and algorithms are subject to change, this presents difficulties for creators whose advertising revenue may be drastically affected. Numerous major platforms impose hefty take rates (20%+) on their creators, which reduces their profitability.
Web2 companies frequently retain, use, and sell user data. Data privacy and user sovereignty issues may result from this. For instance, Facebook has come under fire for allegedly prioritizing engagement on its platform over a few ethical considerations. It experienced a hack in October 2018 that compromised the data of more than 50 million members. Additionally, 91% of American people, according to Pew Research, concur that consumers no longer have any control over how businesses gather and utilize their personal information.
Distributive problems
Platforms govern how users connect with their peers and how content is distributed on Web2. This may have important ramifications for creators whose companies rely on these sites. For instance, because it competes with Periscope, similar software that Twitter just bought, the mobile video streaming app Meerkat was essentially banned from Twitter.
Political problems
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have emerged as key players in the presidential election results and have been charged with spreading false information. Additionally, these businesses have been compelled to weigh in on political discussions. For instance, in January 2021, Twitter famously suspended President Donald Trump’s account. Governments can easily censor access to centralized servers, as was the case when Turkey stopped access to Wikipedia.
Simply said, the current web has a number of issues. With the goal of regaining user and creator sovereignty, Web3 aims to address these problems. The switch to Web3 has a number of possible advantages, including:
Economic
Web3 fully supports open economies in which everyone benefits. Web3 includes new digital primitives, including fungible and non-fungible tokens, which users can utilize to participate in growth where centralized Web2 platforms did not allow for this. These assets give users ownership of their project contributions.
Social
Users can choose which data and information they will share through Web3 projects. The decentralized web aims to separate itself from businesses that control the flow of information on the internet and gather, store, and sell user data.
With Web3, users can turn the tables on platforms. Applications can be developed on top of one another using Web3 composability and data transparency, which goes beyond the traditional perception of platforms as walled gardens. Due to this, tech and product distribution are fundamentally transformed, and open social networks are made possible.
Web2 gave centralized organizations command over distribution. Web3 aims to decentralize this decision-making process by giving project communities control over governance. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), which are owned and operated by tokens, are emerging from these online communities. Decisions in DAOs are made by the members. Thus, formerly centralized decisions on revenue, censorship and other matters are now decentralized among DAO members.
An NFT is a Non-Fungible Token (a one-of-a-kind digital token), which many people regard as a certificate of authenticity, or a deed or evidence that you have the right to show the aforementioned art on your wall or in your wallet (digital wallet). It may provide you ownership of the copy you purchased, but not necessarily ownership of the original artwork. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, the creator automatically retains the copyright. In any case, non-fungible implies ‘irreplaceable,’ since each token is unique. And ‘unique’ produces scarcity, which raises the market value of NFTs.
NFTs have received a lot of interest in the area of art and entertainment. However, with the rise of Web3 and the Metaverse, rising consumer demand for virtual assets, and a move toward the concept of digital ownership, NFTs find a use case that is beyond just art. We’re beginning to see it grow into music, entertainment, sports, and live events, providing value and usefulness that goes beyond just being a digital collection. While the technology is still in its early phases, possible real-world uses for NFTs might include:
• Ensuring authenticity and transparency: Imagine a future in which you can scan a QR code on a product you purchased online and witness its supply chain history. With further instruments, you can look around for data about carbon credits and even donate directly to the families of the workers.
• Real estate: NFTs may be used to transfer land titles, establish evidence of ownership, and even monitor property value fluctuations over time. The fractional ownership model is already being piloted by several startups across different geographies.
• Verified Vehicle History: NFTs have the potential to be the auto industry’s answer to manipulated car history records. By incorporating NFTs and blockchain technology into their automobiles, future purchasers will have complete transparency into a vehicle’s past and will be able to make a more confident used car purchase.
• Ticketing: NFTs can address concerns of fraud in ticketing, whether for concerts, sports events, or airline tickets.
Why (and how) NFTs hold value:
IP: NFTs often provide the possessor with a set of privileges. Common NFT rights include the ability to exhibit or edit art, get access to unique content, and transfer or sell your rights. This adds value to holders who can create an online presence around the art, potentially increasing the value of the underlying art and any linked NFT collection.
Communities: To attract members to a community, you must first create a compelling value offer. If you do this well, you will create a tribe of brand ambassadors and champions who will promote the value of your collection to their network of prospective consumers and dedicated followers.
Exclusivity: NFTs are unique. As a result, they are ideal for highlighting characteristics that are unique to their owners. NFTs, for example, may be used to determine who has access to particular areas of a property (clubs? or even a portion of any website). In other words, they may act similarly to a membership card.
Underwriting: Underwriting is the procedure through which a person or organization assumes the financial risk in exchange for a fee, thereby storing value for an interesting upcoming project. You will be able to pick whatever NFT collection you want to insure as an underwriter by putting ETH into that collection’s unique underwriting pool.
Cryptocurrencies may or may not be allowed in India in the future,
but angel investor and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, one of its
most vocal proponents, has successfully demonstrated its power in
raising funds from different parts of the world and transferring them in
hours, to help India fight the deadly second wave of Coronavirus.
Srinivasan
has also used Twitter's RT (Retweet) function to great effect, using it
to raise awareness and get people to pitch in. For instance, he tweeted
that for every RT, he will donate another $50, up to $100,000, to help
fight Covid in India.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik
Buterin, top executives of Coinbase, NotionHQ, and HubSpot have also
contributed. How will the donations be converted into fiat where will
they be used?Edited excerpts of a conversation that happened on Twitter
between Balaji Srinivasan and Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth:
Can
you take us through how the global crypto community has come together
to mobilize Covid relief for India? How can this be amplified?
Balaji:
Sandeep Nailwal is the cofounder of Polygon, which is India’s first
crypto unicorn and which I’m an investor in. He led the charge, setting
up a crypto address and taking on the regulatory and accounting
responsibilities. Critically, a new crypto address can be set up in
seconds; rather than days (or weeks) for an in-person bank account. I
retweeted it and then Vitalik Buterin did. We donated and encouraged
others to also donate.
I read posts on how a million dollars was
raised in just half a day in crypto, something that would have taken a
couple of days at least if one were to use non-crypto networks....
Balaji: Crypto allowed us to set up an address in
seconds and raise millions in hours from people in dozens of countries,
with fully transparent public accounting of all funds in the blockchain.
That’s just not possible with the traditional financial system, and
indeed illustrates many of the concepts I’ve been mentioning in my
articles.
How will this be converted into fiat money here, do you anticipate any hurdles there?
Balaji: I
believe it is being done with Indian crypto exchanges. I understand
Sandeep Nailwal is working with skilled volunteer accountants and the
reputable ACT fund.
In terms of disbursals, are there specific
causes you will use this for or will it be used directly to directly
procure critical supplies from China,US etc
Balaji:
Sandeep Nailwal and his colleagues are helping with directing the funds
locally; I am just organizing donations. In addition to Vitalik
Buterin, other global crypto people have joined in including Surojit
Chatterjee (CPO of Coinbase) and Eric Meltzer (early crypto investor).
Has this also helped in demonstrating how crypto can help Indian businesses in the long run?
Balaji:
The immediate issue is to solve the urgent and important problem of
getting India past COVID-19 and fully vaccinated. The long-term issue is
to solve the less-urgent but still important problem of rebuilding the
economy after the stresses of COVID. It is here that the global crypto
community could help in a different way, by investing in India, and
helping with the economic recovery, as detailed in some of my articles
What does the Govt need to do to enable this going forward?
Balaji: The
government should embrace crypto as a way for India to (a) protect
Indian national security against de-platforming by American and Chinese
tech companies and (b) rebuild the economy after COVID. Crypto is like
the combination of economic liberalization and the internet, the two
most potent forces since 1991 for Indian GDP growth. To have a chance of
getting back on track to the $5T economy target for 2025, India needs
to embrace the $2T-and-growing-fast crypto-economy.
Today, I am writing this post regarding the demat vs trading account because of the popular demand by our readers. Many of the readers of asked me to cover this topic as they are constantly confused about what is a demat and trading account and their difference.
Therefore in this post, I am going to explain what is the difference between the demat and trading accounts in a very simplest possible words.
Most of the newbies who enter the stock market might already know that they’ll need a demat and trading account to start trading/investing in India. However, the majority of beginners do not know the difference and consider both the demat account and trading account to be the same. But in reality, both these accounts are entirely different and serve different purposes.
Difference between demat and trading account
— Trading Account
A trading account is a medium to buy and sell shares in a stock market. In simple words, it is used to place buy or sell order for a stock in the exchange.
Different stockbrokers offer different trading tools to their clients to simplify their trades. For example, Zerodha, Groww the biggest stockbroker in India offers ‘KITE’ as their platform to trade in stocks. Once you have opened your trading account with a stockbroker, you can place your buy/sell orders using those platforms.
— Demat Account
Demat account is the short form for ‘Dematerialised account’. It is similar to a bank account. Just as money is kept in your savings account, similarly your bought stocks are kept in your demat account.
In other words, a demat account serves as a facility where stocks that you buy are deposited and the stocks sold are taken away. Demat account is used only for the storage of stocks, not for transactions (buying/selling).
Example of Demat and Trading Accounts
Let us understand the difference between trading and demat account further with the help of an example. Assume that you wish to buy 100 stocks of Maruti Suzuki. Here, the sequence followed during the procedure will be as follows:
First of all, you’ll need to have a savings equal to or greater than the buying amount in your savings account.
Next, you’ll transfer the money from saving account to trading account.
Now, you’ll buy stocks of ‘Maruti Suzuki’ from the stock exchange by using your trading account and paying the amount.
Finally, the money is transferred to the seller through your trading account and stocks of ‘Maruti Suzuki’ will be transferred to your demat account.
Now let us assume that after a few months, you wish to sell 20 stocks of ‘Maruti Suzuki’ from your holdings of 100 stocks. Here, the sequence followed will be as follows:
First, you’ll place a sell order in the market using your trading account to find a buyer.
If a buyer is found, then the shares will move from your demat account to the buyer.
Finally, the money gained by selling your stocks will flow through your trading account to your linked savings account.
Quick Fact About Demat Account
Before the internet became popular in India, there were no demat accounts. Share certificates were provided whenever you buy stocks (on papers). However, there were many limitations to using paper share certificates. They used to get torn, stolen, faced safety-related issues or the ink just gets fade away with time.
Nevertheless, after coming of the internet from the mid-1990s, the stocks started getting kept in the electronic dematerialized form in the demat account of the buyers. It resolved most of the limitations of the old paper share certificates.
A few other points to know about demat and trading account
Demat and trading accounts are opened together (also known as 2-in-1 account) with most of the popular stockbrokers in India. For example, Zerodha, Angel Broking, 5 Paisa, etc.
A few big stockbrokers (generally bank brokers) also offer a 3-in-1 account i.e. Saving+Demat+Trading account to their clients. For example ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, etc.
In general, there are no annual maintenance charges for a trading account, where for the demat account this maintenance charge may vary from broker to broker. It is typically around Rs 300-400 per year.
These days, the investors and traders can open instant (paperless) demat and trading account within 10 minutes with major stockbrokers. Nonetheless, the facility of offline account opening is still popular in India and offered by all these brokers.
The account opening charge for demat and trading account also varies from broker to broker. A few brokers offer free account opening. However, the majority of them will charge somewhere between Rs 300-500 to open your brokerage account.
In addition, you are also allowed to open multiple demat and trading accounts using same PAN card. For instance, You can have multiple accounts- one in ICICI direct and other in Zerodha.
Finally, choose your broker wisely to open your demat and trading account if you want to avoid unnecessary charges and risks.
Summary
Let us quickly summarize what we discussed in this article regarding trading and demat account in India.
A trading account provides a platform to buy or sell the share in the market. It acts as an intermediary between your saving accounts and demat accounts. In simple words, it takes share from your demat account and sells them in the market.
On the other hand, it takes money from your savings account and buys a share to keep in a demat account. Further, a demat account is a facility to keep your shares in an electronic dematerialized form.
