[Economy] EPFO: Compulsory UID, Investment in AAA Corporate bonds, Air India
- EPFO: UID proposal =cancelled
- EPFO : AAA bonds proposal = pending
- EPFO: Air India=invested
- Mock Questions
EPFO: UID proposal =cancelled
- Earlier EPFO had decided that Aadhaar numbers must be compulsory for subscribers from 1st March 2013.
- This could help EPFO easily cross verify subscribers.
But after EPFO officials held meeting with UIDAI officials, they came to know that
- UIDAI agency is organizing enrollment camps in only 18 states.
- In the remaining states, the Registrar General of India (RGI) is collecting data for the National Population Register (NPR). And then data is sent to UIDAI then UIDAI issues Aadhar card = time consuming.
Ok so what’s the difference?
Aadhar card |
National Population register (NPR) |
| Under UIDAI, Planning Commission. | Under Registrar general of India, Home ministry. |
| Voluntary. | Compulsory for all Indian residents. Every resident’s fingerprint and iris needs to be scanned. |
| — | If there are discrepancies between UIDAI data and NPR data, NPR will prevail. |
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Hence EPFO has decide to delay this “compulsory Aadhar number” rule. (because it is very unlikely that entire India will be covered under Aadhar numbers by March 2013).
By the way, why this Double labour (by UIDAI and RGI)?
Because there is a “turf-war” going on between UIDAI and Home Ministry. Home ministry has two problems with data Collected by UIDAI:
- it is not secure
- Data / family is not verified by a government servant.
EPFO : AAA bonds proposal = pending
At present, EPFO can invest in only bonds issued by PSUs and seven private companies and banks viz.
- HDFC
- IDFC
- IL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited)
- LIC Housing Finance
- HDFC Bank
- ICICI Bank
- Axis Bank
Recently,
| EPFO | @CRISIL Yaar please give some investment advice. |
| CRISIL | I suggest you invest some money in Corporate bonds with “AAA” rating. |
| EPFO | Why? |
| CRISIL |
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| EPFO | Sounds like a good idea, but I’ll have to get this proposal approved by Central Board of Trustees (CBT). (in Feb-end 2013) |
| CRISIL | Why? |
| EPFO | Because CBT is the main Decision Making body of EPFO. |
If this proposal is approved, it can mean two things
- EPFO can earn more money on its investment= it can offer higher returns to its subscribers.
- Those corporates companies get more investment money (from EPFO)= they can new plants/ machinery / employees and expand their production capacity =better IIP, better GDP.
EPFO: Air India=invested
December 2012
| Air India | I need to borrow cash from market, just to repay some previous bank loans. So, In way I’m totally awesome Pawnfisher airlines! |
| LIC and EPFO | Then you should be left to collapse just like Pawnfisher. |
| Air India | Oh come on!! I’m the “National” Airline of India. You must not let me collapse! |
| LIC and EPFO | Oh the patriotism angle. In that case, we must not apply the basic principles of free market economy hahaha! Please tell us how much cash do you need? |
| Air India | Rs.7400 crores.I’ll issue bonds. Maturity @19 years. (meaning you’ll recover principle after 19 years.) In the mean time, I’ll pay 9+% interest rate (but I’ll pay installments bi-annually.) |
| LIC and EPFO | Ok agreed. We’ll buy all of your bonds. |
By the way, in case you wondered: If Air India=#EPICFAIL, then why did LIC+EPFO take risk?
