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Pay taxes or be taxed.

Indian units of Apple, Google, and Amazon are being investigated by the Income Tax department for potential non-payment of taxes of up to Rs 5,000. This is in connection with a probe that began in 2021. The authorities now seek detailed explanations of transferring pricing practices of these companies, reported The Economic Times. 

Elsewhere, Whatfix continues business as usual in the face of the ongoing lawsuit against its Delaware-based entity. CEO Khadim Batti told employees in an email that the lawsuit would not impact the company’s day-to-day operations, according to reports. 

In August, Israeli firm WalkMe filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against Whatfix, alleging that the latter had used WalkMe’s enterprise DAP customer accounts to gain “unauthorised insight into and copy WalkMe’s system features, functionality, and data”.

Meanwhile, Indian consumers are now willing to pay a higher premium for sustainable products, revealed a global study by Bain & Company.

This is likely driven by the spiking levels of pollution in major cities and the increased incidence of flash floods in different parts of the country. However, there’s still a noticeable gap between intent and action, mainly due to factors like high prices, limited product information and availability. 

Lastly, AI is now being used to find and make new medicines. In fact, Insilico Medicine, a startup headquartered in Hong Kong and New York, has used AI to develop an experimental drug for the incurable lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. 

But can algorithms predict human side effects? Only time will tell.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Paytm’s turnaround tale
• Pitch Fest comes to Delhi
• IRDAI’s show-cause notice to Go Digit

Here’s your trivia for today: In 1971, which stock exchange began operations as the world’s first electronic stock market?

Fintech

Paytm’s turnaround tale sparks hope

Vijay Shekhar Sharma and his team have shown that Paytm is not just a vertically-focused company, but a platform for payments, commerce and financial services. Post the Q2 results where it showed a 32% rise year-on-year in revenue at Rs 2,519 crore while narrowing losses, Paytm’s stock has soared more than 104% from the 52-week low in November 2022.

What it means:

• The ubiquity of Paytm soundboxes and the ease of payments means merchants (MSMEs) understand and trust the company.
• The company has also been successful in its focus on operating profit, which is helped by consistently improving contribution profit.
• Paytm’s improved and diversified services also mean good news for the economy as smaller entrepreneurs in India get access to capital.

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Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm

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TechSparks

The Pitch Fest comes to Delhi

After the resounding success of The Pitch Fest 2023 at TechSparks Bengaluru, YourStory’s ultimate entrepreneurial colosseum is back, this time at TechSparks Delhi 2023—the first-ever edition in the national capital.

Pitch Fest’s raison d’être is to help young, promising startups surmount the hurdle of raising that first, coveted round of funding by putting them directly in front of investors.

First raise:

• The jury for The Pitch Fest typically comprises micro-VCs from across sectors looking to back the pre-seed to pre-Series A funding rounds of promising tech startups.
• As part of The Pitch Fest cohort, each of the presenting startups will enjoy exclusive media coverage, providing them with a unique opportunity to generate buzz and visibility.
• Startups from the AI/ML, health, computer vision, and EV space saw a lot of active participation at TechSparks Bengaluru.

Insurtech

IRDAI slaps show-cause notice to Go Digit

IPO-bound insurance aggregator Go Digit General Insurance has received a show cause notice from insurance regulator IRDAI over certain issues along with multiple advisories. The notice was for alleged non-disclosure of change in the conversion ratio of the compulsorily convertible preference shares issued by its holding company to FAL Corporation, in violation of the Insurance Act. 

Scrutiny:

• Go Digit has received advisories regarding its failure to get IRDAI’s approval for the change in remuneration of the CEO, ESOPs 2018, and failure to inform of a retrospective grant of ESARs.
• The IRDAI advised the firm to discontinue the arrangement of markup for certain facility management and technology advisory services provided to the holding company.
• The regulator cautioned the firm and strengthened its internal controls, commensurate with the size and operations of the company. 

News & updates

• Transparency: YouTube will soon require video-makers to disclose manipulated or synthetic content, including videos created using AI. This could apply to videos that use GenAI to realistically depict events that never happened, or show people saying or doing something they didn’t do. 
• Burger boots: McDonald’s is entering the footwear game, rolling out a line of custom-designed clogs in collaboration with Crocs. The fast food-inspired lineup will feature three classic Crocs and one Crocs sandal based on McDonald’s mascots Grimace, Hamburglar and Birdie.
• Compliant: Microsoft and Google will not challenge the EU’s law requiring them to make it easier for users to move between competing services. As part of its latest crackdown on Big Tech, the EU has picked 22 “gatekeeper” services, run by six of the world’s biggest tech companies, to face new rules.

In 1971, which stock exchange began operations as the world’s first electronic stock market?

Answer: NASDAQ

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