A dedicated COVID-19 pan India helpline number should be available 24*7 with human beings who listen and understand the problems faced by citizens and direct them to the concerned authorities

The new regulation will come into effect from March 29, 2020, IBBI said in a statement on Sunday. This means that troubled companies will get a breather of 17 days

To assess the impact of lockdown, we not only need to take the 21-day shutdown period but the extra additional days of the operating cycle before a material or service can be back to operations

For the persons below poverty line (BPL), the government for the next six months should facilitate a cash transfer of Rs 5,000 per account on a monthly basis into their Aadhar linked bank accounts

A fiscal package is warranted to support the job losses due to halting economy and sector specific revival plans. While heavy lifting is required at government level, monetary intervention is also warranted now for a smooth transition in overcoming the crisis

Technology has now penetrated banking so deeply that often it's hard to decipher whether modern banking is more about financial services or technology

Out of Rs 9,870 crore worth of claims, the creditors have received a princely sum of Rs 96 crore - that is right. Less than 1% after more than one year of running around, which will not compensate even the expenses incurred by the creditors

Certainly, ARCs are specialised entities and in 2017, minimum net worth of ARCs was enhanced 50 times by the RBI from Rs 2 crore to Rs 100 crore to boost their capital base

A standing committee on the ARC sector should be formed which should meet quarterly to take stock of the developments and ways to improve the functional effectiveness of ARCs

The Essar verdict not only gives the single largest realisation from any asset to financial creditors, qualitatively also this is the biggest for the financial sector in getting their due rights and primacy in the scheme of things

In these years, ARCs have been able to play a limited role in containing NPAs by acquiring and resolving NPAs, major constraints being limited capital, inability to raise debt resources and price expectation mismatch with seller banks amongst others.

A reduction in the Repo rate from current 6.25% to at least 6% will incentivise credit growth and improve private sector investment

A guaranteed basic income through direct cash transfer could be more effective in supporting low income households when existing support programs like the Public Distribution System have not proved very effective.

Debt relief helps only a small fragment of farming community in a very limited and temporary way.

With growing stress in balance sheets of stressed companies and that of large banks, role of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs)- envisaged as an institutional response to tackle growing NPAs-  have come into sharper focus.

These payment banks can accept demand deposits up to Rs 1 lakh, issue debit card, distribute third party financial products like Mutual Fund and Insurance. However, they are prohibited from lending or issuing credit cards.

Several factors are driving this flourishing trade in bad assets. But the biggest trigger came in November 2013 when RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, in a strongly worded exhortation, asked the banking system to clean up its act.

\"Allow ARCs to go public. This will help mobilise funds and ensure greater disclosures and more transparency\", writes Hari Hara Mishra, president, UV ARC, Delhi.